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“There has been communication between [Boris Johnson and Marcus Rashford]”

Matt Hancock, BBC Breakfast

26 October 2020

Facts

On the subject of Marcus Rashford’s free meals campaign, Matt Hancock told BBC Breakfast that “there has been communication between [Boris Johnson and Marcus Rashford]”.

Within minutes Marcus Rashford challenged the claims. 

He tweeted: “Hmm, unless he’s referring to the call we had following the U-turn in June?..” 

The Evening Standard reported that the Prime Minister’s office later confirmed that the pair last talked “in the summer when they spoke on the phone.” Mr Johnson later said: “I haven’t spoken to Marcus since June but what he is doing is terrific.” 

Verdict 

Hancock was right to say that Boris Johnson and Marcus Rashford had spoken - but that was four months earlier. Hence Marcus Rashford’s mystified response. BBC breakfast viewers could be forgiven for getting the wrong impression. Presenter Dan Walker did a forensic job by following up Hancock’s first answer with credible information which cast doubt on Hancock’s statement.

When we asked Matt Hancock to respond to the claims laid out in this website, a spokesperson said: “This list is false, wildly inaccurate, and in some cases possibly even defamatory. For example claiming that some of Matt's claims in the Commons were in defiance of the ministerial code, when they were in fact accurate. The priority throughout this unprecedented pandemic has been saving lives.” 

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