MATT Hancock has called Marcus Rashford “Daniel” in an embarassing mix-up.
The Health Secretary made the mistake this morning despite the Manchester United star being the most talked about man in politics.
Appearing on Sky News, Mr Hancock was asked about the star after he forced Boris Johnson to u-turn and provide £15 a week free school meals vouchers for poor kids during the summer holidays.
He said: “Righty-ho. Well I’ll tell you what happened, the Prime Minister talked to Daniel Rashford, he considered it and made his decision.
“I think it’s terrific, I’m in favour of making sure we get as much support as possible for people in difficult circumstances.
“I think that Marcus Rashford has done a great thing in the campaigning he’s done.”
OWN GOAL
The blunder has been mocked on Twitter with people lining up to poke fun at the Health Secretary.
England legend Gary Lineker wrote: “Good to see Matt Hancock finally giving credit to footballers and Daniel Rashford in particular.”
With Rashford quickly replying: “I’ve been called a lot worse over the last couple of days” with a laughing crying emoji.
He said on GMB: “To give you an indication of just how in touch Matt Hancock is, he just thanked a footballer for driving a u-turn, do you know what he called him – he called him Daniel Rashford.
Ex-Man United star Gary Neville also joined in and wrote “Morning Daniel” and tagged Rashford.
Piers Morgan said the Health Secretary’s gaffe was a sign of how out of touch he was.
“Daniel Rashford that famous footballer, this is the same Matt Hancock that was very big on footballers. Do you remember?”
Brits were stunned that Mr Hancock managed to get Rashford’s name wrong.
One wrote: “The most talked about individual in the UK in the past 24 hours. ‘Daniel Rashford’.”
Another said: “Good grief. At least have the common, bl***y decency to get his name right.”
FREE MEALS U-TURN
The PM’s spokesperson said yesterday that the Government would run a Covid food fund throughout the summer.
He said: “The PM welcomed Marcus Rashford’s contribution to the debate around poverty and I said he would be responding as soon as possible.
“Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the PM fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer.
“To to reflect this, we will be providing a Covid summer food fund.
“This will provide food vouchers covering the six week holiday period.
“This was a specific measure to reflect the unique circumstances of the pandemic.
“The scheme will not continue beyond the summer and those eligible will be those who already qualify for free school meals.”
Ministers have said they will continue with plans to put an additional £63million of money into local authorities to help those who can’t afford basic essentials.
The u-turn came after several Tory MPs teamed up with Labour to demand change.
