BORIS Johnson is again under fire from Marcus Rahsford after rejecting the footballer's new campaign to end child hunger.

The Manchester United and England forward launched a petition which urged ministers to go further in tackling poverty. 

The parliamentary petition is calling for three policy recommendations by the National Food Strategy to be made without delay – including expanding free school meals to all households on Universal Credit.

But Boris Johnson has dismissed the proposals outright. His spokesman said: "It's not for schools to regularly provide food to pupils during the school holidays."

Rashford has hit back on Twitter, writing: "Merry Christmas kids...

"It's also not for food banks to feed millions of British children but here we are. 250% increase in food poverty and rising ... This is not going away anytime soon and neither am I..."

READ MORE: 'Ignorant' Tory MP slammed by Marcus Rashford over child poverty tweet

The Manchester United star – who has just been made an MBE for his services to vulnerable children – forced Tory ministers into a humiliating U-turn earlier this year after they scrapped support for youngsters in England during the summer break.

Since then, he has formed a child food poverty task force which has linked up with some of the UK's biggest supermarkets and food brands.

Launching his petition, the striker said: “Whatever your feeling, opinion or judgement, food poverty is never the child's fault.

“In 2020, no child in the UK should be going to bed hungry, nor should they be sat in classrooms concerned about how their younger siblings are going to eat that day, or how they are going to access food come the holidays.”

The demands in the petition also include expanding English school holiday food and activities programmes to more families and increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers to £4.25 per week (from £3.10).

A recent Food Foundation survey of more than 1000 children found 6% were worried about going hungry during the October half-term, and 11% said either they or their families had visited a foodbank in the summer break.

Anna Taylor, executive director of Food Foundation, said: "School holidays are a financial pressure point which many families just can't afford at the moment. Hunger does not take a holiday.

"The Government needs to put in place a permanent solution to school holiday hunger and implement the recommendations in the National Food Strategy.

"While children have been spared the virus, they have not been spared it's economic impacts and we must act to protect them."