Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford deeply disappointed with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson

Marcus Rashford is understood to be deeply disappointed by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s response to his plea for help to tackle child poverty.

Details of a letter from Williamson to the England forward — responding to the player’s heartfelt request to deal with a crisis affecting millions of impoverished British children — are to be revealed by the BBC on Saturday.

Sportsmail understands that Rashford feels a lack of empathy falls way short of what he had hoped for. The BBC would not disclose the details of the Williamson letter ahead of Saturday’s broadcast. But it is understood that it merely outlines what the Conservative party have done for children while in power.

It has been viewed as an unexpectedly cold and dismissive response to what the 22-year-old Manchester United forward considers to be an existential crisis for impoverished British children, rather than simply a Covid-related problem.

Williamson is not scheduled to appear on BBC Breakfast when contents of the letter will be revealed on Saturday. 

Instead, the presenters will be joined by Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chair of the Education select committee, to discuss the issue.

Rashford followed up a letter to MPs in June with requests for three new policy initiatives: an expansion of free school meals to every family on Universal Credit or the equivalent, an increase in holiday provision to support another 1.1 million children receiving free school meals, and an increase in the Healthy Start vouchers from £3.10 per week to £4.25, helping a further 290,000 pregnant women and children under the age of four.