this is bbc news, the headlines... european union ambassadors get details of a post—brexit trade deal in a christmas day briefing led by michel barnier. the queen reflected on the hardships of the pandemic in her christmas speech as she and prince philip break tradition by staying in windsor. people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year. and i am so the challenges of the year. and i am so proud and moved by this quiet indomitable spirit. pope francis gives his christmas day address — urging all nations to share covid—i9 vaccines and calling for peace in war—torn regions. thousands of lorry drivers are spending christmas day in their cabs near dover as 800 military personnel continue to test stranded hauliers — the government says more than 10,000 tests have been done.

now on bbc news, marcus rashford: feeding britain's children, following the 23—year—old footballer on his remarkable year campaigning for free school meals. i've not been here for ages. this is where it all began. we used to be able to go upstairs and get a cup of coffee and what have you. his painting is on the wall, that's incredible, isn't it? there's no way you would ever think that would have happened. it is like a dream come true, isn't it? he has worked hard to get to where he has got to know. so have you. i know but i did what i had to do and any parent can do that for their own child then there is a problem, isn't there? he is one of the most famous footballers of his generation. 0h,

the most famous footballers of his generation. oh, that is a wonderful goal from a quite superb emerging manchester united talent. manchester united superstar. and england international. a hometown hero. at the age ofjust 23, marcus rashford has the world at his feet. but he is worried by the millions of youngsters experiencing the same levels of hunger he faced as a child. i'd rather see myself starve the markets. the stigma needs to disappear as quickly as possible really. prime minister, will children go hungry this summer? rushford is now campaigning to end child food poverty in england. hello, everyone. can everyone hear me? it won't be easy. but for marcus rashford, this is personal. it

brings tears to your eyes, doesn't it? you should never be ashamed of what you have gone through. you are the best footballer. meet marcus and his mum, mel. as a young single parent, mel worked round—the—clock in a bid to keep food on the table for the future star. a table is to put things on. i didn't think he was going to be a footballer. i had to drop them off there, go to work and then come back, pick him up and come home. when i first started playing football i didn't know it was something you could do for natural

living. i wasn't at home most of the time, they had to be in on their owfi. time, they had to be in on their own. i had three jobs and if i didn't do that ijust wouldn't have been able to cook a pot of food. sometimes it was really bad. i'd rather give the food to the kids then give it to myself. sometimes i didn't get anything to eat and they said of you had yours? i would say yeah but i didn't. sometimes we didn't have a loaf of bread in the house. it's embarrassing to say but we didn't. 0n the way we are living now, honestly i see my room sometimes ijust cry. you just sit there crying on your own because you are thinking about where you have come from to where you are at now. it'sjust sad really, isn't it? all them little struggles and sacrifices that you made it helps you appreciate everything ten times more. so i don't see it as a wea kness more. so i don't see it as a weakness because i think in sport you have to have something behind it that's pushing you. when you come from a place of struggle and a place

pain, a lot of the time it switches and it becomes your drive and motivation. 0ne one way in which the government could help those worst affected would be to extend the national voucher scheme. they mean children who can't go to school because of coronavirus restrictions still get free meals. we are announcing a further £63 million of local welfare assistance to be used by local authorities at their discretion to help the most vulnerable families. footballer marcus rashford writes to mps... footballer marcus rashford writes to mps. .. asking the government to rethink its... prime minster, will children go hungry this summer? this was at the beginning of everything. dear prime minister, my mum worked

full—time earning minimum wage to make sure we always had a good evening meal on our table but it was not enough. the system was not built forfamilies like not enough. the system was not built for families like mine not enough. the system was not built forfamilies like mine to not enough. the system was not built for families like mine to succeed. regardless of how hard my mum worked. as a family, we relied on brea kfast clu bs, worked. as a family, we relied on breakfast clubs, free school meals and the kind donations of neighbours and the kind donations of neighbours and coaches. food banks and soup kitchens were not alien to us. it is things that are personal to me and it's actually a bit out of character for me really to open up and speak about something so close to myself to the public. but i definitely feel like it was necessary in order to get the messages across. he is doing a greatjob in trying to get the government to u—turn on that decision to stop the voucher going on during the summer. it can happen here if the politicians change the

policy lets see if it can get this. i listen to the story on the tv when he was talking about it and i rang him up, said you've got this, they have got to do the u—turn now have to listen to all of that because it was pretty sad. it'sjust crazy to think that this is all going on, we are into 2020 now and i don't believe it is something that should believe it is something that should be happening. those words that he was same are coming from the bottom of his heart. just over 24 hours after marcus's appealed to number ten... in the last few minutes the government has announced it is backing down... 1.3 million children will be able to claim... mother's prye... i will be able to claim... mother's prye. .. i heard will be able to claim... mother's prye... i heard that will be able to claim... mother's prye. .. i heard that he'd done it i thought, god, i better bring him!|j talked thought, god, i better bring him!” talked to marcus ratchford today and congratulate —— talked to marcus ratchford today and congratulate — — marcus talked to marcus ratchford today and congratulate —— marcus rashford on his campaign. i do think it is right that we should be looking after families of the neediest right now.

i must have rung about 20 times i said we've cracked it! it was a mad few days, wasn't it? this is only going to be successful throughout the summer period and then we have bought ourselves an extra six weeks of time there to come and figure out what's next and how we keep taking steps forward because i don't want this to be the end of it because there is definitely more steps need to be taken. marcus wants to find out if he can help families facing child food poverty, so he sends a tweet to his 7.3 million followers asking for their stories. hi, marcus, i asking for their stories. hi, marcus, lam asking for their stories. hi, marcus, i am a single working mother with three daughters. for years i did struggle. the struggle is real, mate. even though i am back in work full time we have lost so much money through paying bills. until recently we have all worked but now we can't afford the transport to get our children to school. i'm a single mum

with two children. i work full—time. at the end of the month when i pay the bills that's it, all the money is gone. it's what the community actually wants, they have no experience what some of the families of experience and they are the voices i want to hear because they are the people i want to help. marcus is paying a surprise visit to some of the families who answered his appeal on social media. 0h, some of the families who answered his appeal on social media. oh, my goodness. boys. are you 0k? yeah, i'm good. 0h, goodness. boys. are you 0k? yeah, i'm good. oh, my god! this reminds me of when i was a kid. these are the places that i would come to

chill and you don't even realise that you spend all day here just messing about. my mum always comes to get me she says, i am. yeah, it's like drag a new home. i've been grounded a few times for not coming home on time. it's been a difficult period for everyone but how is it affecting you guys? we are really grateful because i was really ill in march. i couldn't move out of my bed. they would come in and deliver food to my home. families are not speaking out. there is a stigma. because they look at it as who goes toa because they look at it as who goes to a food bank? who goes to these places? they look down on it but when you were speaking about it and saying you have been through it, that has given our family confident to say ok he has been through it. it took me being homeless to know that you need to meet the right people at the right time to make it. are you trying to hurt me?! how do you feel

about the senior mum struggling? it's very upsetting see my mum upset sometimes and thinking how is she going to give us this meal today. what is going to happen today or tomorrow and feel how can i help? so i tried to do things that help the community, i can clean your windows for £3 or something like that. or ta ke for £3 or something like that. or take them to school for this amount of money and then i will try and give it to my mum. do you do the of your own back? yeah. for me it's refreshing foot to hear you say things like that and never feel that anyone is looking down on you for doing things like that because they don't know what it feels like to have to survive. because when you have to survive. because when you have to survive you do whatever you have to survive you do whatever you have to survive you do whatever you have to do. and this conversation is really good for me because these momentsjust give me more

understanding of people's situation. we really appreciate it. it has been refreshing and am very happy. i'm happy to! you are saying all the right things. you know how to spell your name? marcus rashford is a man on a mission. the england footballer has set upa mission. the england footballer has set up a special task force. in a letter to mps the football acknowledge that the food voucher scheme have positively impacted millions of children's lives but that it was only ever going to support the issue in the short term. we are looking all those policy suggestions he has put forward in his letter to make sure that they do deliver on a shared objective which is alleviating the kind of poverty that he talks about. hello, everyone. can everybody hear me? marcus knows there has to be a long—term solution. he has invited representatives from the uk's

largest supermarkets and food banks on to assume call. whatever you think about universal credit, that on its own is not going to be able to cope. with the help of you guys we can come together and make massive changes and i really appreciate the help that you are giving me. it should never be normal for somebody to feel how i felt. when you get to the position i'm in now, i feel like if when you get to the position i'm in now, ifeel like if they when you get to the position i'm in now, i feel like if they are when you get to the position i'm in now, ifeel like if they are in need and they don't have anybody really fighting for them then i should be the one that does it really. we're on way to my old school and we are going to have conversations with one of the staff members that used to work in the breakfast club. hello! i

just wanted to ask you some questions about how it's changed basically from when you remember i was here. has it got more difficult? it has got difficult. we tend to do a lot more supporting families with food. it can be food, housing, anything we deal with. the way i see, if they are in need of free school meals when in school then when they go home they still need it. they still need a hot meal. so i think that is probably the next step. it is a stigma that they've found sometimes and they say no, i don't need anything and it is getting past that. yeah, the stigma needs to disappear as quickly as possible. it does. i've never understood it but the quicker it goes" understood it but the quicker it goes... i agree. because understood it but the quicker it goes... iagree. because some families might be working, and then it has affected them that way and then they realise that actually i need help. she said it has got worse

andi need help. she said it has got worse and i know there are definitely more stu d e nts and i know there are definitely more students are now than when i was there. and ultimately that means for her because she is so passionate about it is there are more families that she has to help. it is definitely disheartening but the main thing is now you can't look back, you have to look forward. footballer marcus rashford successfully campaigned for more than! million pupils to receive free school meals over the country. he becomes an mbe for services to vulnerable children. in my eyes a lot of the work is my mum because work —— mark my mum's work. never mind an mbe, even been a football player, it just wouldn't mind an mbe, even been a football player, itjust wouldn't have been very likely if i didn't have somebody like her behind me. nice. whilst marcus waits for commitment

from the government, another influential person has been in touch. acclaimed actor emma thompson is also campaigning to end child food positive. -- poverty. hello, marcus. we have to stay like this. in april 2019 emma went to downing street to deliver a report on poverty written from children's perspective, outlining recommendations for change. hey, you lot. hello. would you like me to introduce you? i think we know it very well. so the question is for me 110w very well. so the question is for me now what we do now? where do we go from where we are? food commission to see how many people it is affecting and to show the mps and everybody in the uk that this is a real thing and that people are suffering from it, especially young people. that is a massive one. the doubts we put themselves in the environment and they have seen what

is actually happening then we wouldn't even have to speak about any of this. on your twitter you said it's not the parents's fault that they can't feed their child because no parent doesn't want to feed their child. that needs to be heard by more adults and we could be the ones to tell them to stop stigmatising people. when the disbelief goes and the denial goes, then that hopefully will take some of the shame and stigma away. we have all gone through this, we have all seen people go through this. and when we are showing that we are going doing what we're doing and having people like you, emma, new marcus, show the support that we need. it is the government's responsibility to ensure that children do not go hungry. they

don't stop being hungryjust because the school bell rings for the end of term. free school meals have only ever been intended to provide support during term time periods while children are engaging in activity learning. i urge the government to set out long—term plan to tackle food hunger. —— child food hunger. i do not believe in nationalising children. instead, we need to get back to the idea of taking responsibility. the noes habit. —— have it. the noes habit. -- have it. the people are speaking about it have had a life where there parents are

struggling like they can literally afford to buy food and afford to pay bills and that's it. because i doubt that they have, the way they speak about, is so insensitive and for me it is just about, is so insensitive and for me it isjust a about, is so insensitive and for me it is just a lack of understanding. basically you have had to go through it to understand it. we understand it to understand it. we understand it clearly because we have been through it. the next step is for the government tojust sit through it. the next step is for the government to just sit down and try and gaina government to just sit down and try and gain a proper understanding of the people that we are actually helping on what they go through day to day because they don't quite understand the effect it has on people's lives and it is because they are not seen it first—hand. so once they do see it and they see how people have to live their lives day to day and you can see the pain in their eyes. we have to prioritise.

we do what we do, don't we, to get by. i would see myself staff my kids. we eat a lot less nowadays to make sure we have the food for the kids. we live off one meal a day. this is what i have got left to last mefiu this is what i have got left to last me till payday. i'm really anxious because unlike have i got enough thatis because unlike have i got enough that is going to last until i get that is going to last until i get that payment of the last day of the month when i can go and do my shopping. we tried not to let them realise what's going on because the stigma that comes with it. in some ways i feel embarrassed about having to do this but it is to ensure my sofi to do this but it is to ensure my son is eating properly. i know i try my best normally but during half term is any holidays it is always difficult. the stigma is still there but is how you deal with it as a person. the end of the day if you have got no other choice than let them think and say they want, if we

need to go and get food from elsewhere because we can't provide for the kids at least we are providing for the kids, no matter where it comes from. we could just make one little difference, make one child go to bed for. that they go to bed with the belly full of knowing other people care. i am often told us other people care. i am often told usa other people care. i am often told us a lot because i keep a lot of treats behind for the kids. but actually, seeing... knowing that child is going to go with a little smile, that actually there are people out there that do care and actually we do care. we do. during lockdown, marcus and his mum, mel, worked with the food charity fair share. they raise £20 million, enough to feed more than 3 million

children throughout the uk. today, they are visiting their local depot in manchester. hi, there. hello, mr ratchford. welcome to fair share greater manchester. we have got some ppe to share with you. the mayor of manchester andy burnham is attending. some of the comments were ha rd to attending. some of the comments were hard to listen to in the debate, i bet they were for you. but that tells you why the campaign is needed because some people still need educating, some people in parliament so educating, some people in parliament so need educating. one thing it has doneis so need educating. one thing it has done is raise more awareness anyway. more and more people are learning about it. we have to keep the momentum now. when it's finished, i will vacate the mayor of greater manchester, straight in! honestly, on behalf of everyone, we are so proud of you. all of us are so proud of you. but there is some good news.

fairshare is of you. but there is some good news. fair share is expanding to provide more food for children in need and then naming their new depot after marcus's mum, mel. start your own trophy cabinet! i'm overwhelmed and i don't what to say. all i can say is thank you. for us and my mum especially, we were concentrated so much on the people that we were trying to help, everything elsejust sort of goes over our heads. you need to grow a little bit!” sort of goes over our heads. you need to grow a little bit! 1 million people have signed footballer marcus rashford's petition to extend free school meal vouchers to children during holiday. ! million people during holiday. ! million people during the week. fantastic. following the government's recent announcement that they're not going to extend free school lunches during half term we know someone... the great british public are now getting behind marcus and in a big way. this

week we will be giving out free school lunches to any child who needs it. if you are struggling... we will do our best... here at the gainsborough trinity foundation... at this great yarmouth pub! morley and west yorkshire! that is a picture for many across the country to see. so many people do off their own backs all over the country, for me it wasjust own backs all over the country, for me it was just a really proud moment. it has been the most challenging year for everyone around the country and i think the least that children deserve as a christmas dinner this year. manchester united fiow dinner this year. manchester united now lead to— one. dinner this year. manchester united now lead to- one. it is early november and marcus arrives home from a big game to a long—awaited phone call from the prime minister.

yeah, i have literallyjust got back 110w yeah, i have literallyjust got back now from the game. i got an assist today. no goal but we won the game so today. no goal but we won the game so that's good. yeah, yeah, yeah. can you just say that again please? the government is to provide free meals to disadvantaged children in england during the christmas holidays part of a package of measures costing nearly £400 million. an existing programme which provides activities and food in the school holidays will be extended across england for the whole of new next year. that would be the perfect situation for me and we ask for that and because of that we will be able to help families in a better way.

the significant climb—down comes after a campaign led by the manchester united footballer marcus rashford. thank you very much and on behalf of the families as well that you are helping ijust want to say behalf of the families as well that you are helping i just want to say a big thank you from them as well because they really appreciate it. thank you very much. speak to you $0011. thank you very much. speak to you soon. bye. he said the u-turn came ina soon. bye. he said the u-turn came in a phone call from the prime minister. a good conversation, good outcome. i think now we have managed, well, we finally managed to be on the same page. the main thing for me is that it is happening and families are going to be a lot better off. come on. she rang me about a week ago and she was telling me don't give up because it is something that we all believe in and we have all experienced at the end of the day and we don't want other people to have to experience it. so that was, you were the last person i

spoke to about that.” that was, you were the last person i spoke to about that. i rang him a week ago to say they're going to change. something that i knew that they had to take place, he had a petition out there with over a million signatures and i couldn't say no after all that. i'm happy that we have got to this stage but in my mind i can't stop thinking about what the bigger picture looks like. so for me i'm still a long way from sort of working towards that. so i'm happy for this moment but i just look ahead to what can we do 110w. just look ahead to what can we do now. as marcus was growing up we have always told him a couple of words and that is never forget where you have come from. and that is one thing i would like to tell the whole world is never forgotten where he is come from where a lot of people are coming from now, the free school meals and all that. it is good to get out there that he has never forgotten that. he's actually helping the world because of where

helping the world because of where he has come from. well done, marcus. thank you. today has been quiet but today we have a named storm on the way, storm bella is can be causing trouble saturday night into sunday. there will be nearly touch of frost but as cloudy skies work in a little bit of rain it will be milder. by the end of the night we are going to be frost free, temperatures four to eight celsius for many others. rain through the end of the night will be persistent throughout boxing day really across western scotland, accompanied by some strong gusts of wind. scattered showers for southern parts of wales, southern areas of england but a milder day. then storm bella through saturday night and into sunday is going to cause problems, heavy rain could bring

localised flooding given that the ground is saturated. southern wales looks critically vulnerable. as well as the rain it will be very windy, damaging gust of wind are on the way to the south of wales and southern counties of england.

this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. european union ambassadors get details of a post—brexit trade deal in a christmas day briefing led by michel barnier. queen elizabeth has been reflecting on the hardships of the pandemic in her christmas speech as she and prince philip break tradition by staying in windsor. people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year. and i am so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit. pope francis gives his christmas day address, urging all nations to share covid—19 vaccines and calling for peace in war—torn regions. thousands of lorry drivers are spending christmas day in their cabs near dover as 800 military personnel continue to test stranded hauliers.