About 1.3m children in England will be able to claim free school meal vouchers in the summer holidays, after a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford.
The Manchester United forward, 22, welcomed the six-week voucher for eligible children, saying: “Look at what we can do when we come together.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the move was a “welcome U-turn”.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Mr Rashford’s “contribution to the debate around poverty”.
During the coronavirus lockdown the government is providing vouchers to families whose children qualify for free meals. But it had insisted this would not continue outside of term time.
This prompted the England squad footballer to pen an open letter to MPs.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday evening, Mr Rashford said he was “grateful that the prime minister did change his decision”.
