Matt Hancock calls Marcus Rashford ‘Daniel’ on live TV interview about Boris Johnson U-turn

Manchester United and England striker forced the prime minister into reversing his decision on free school meal vouchers, only for the health secretary to forget his name live during a Sky News interview

Health secretary Matt Hancock found himself at the centre of a live TV gaffe on Wednesday morning after calling Marcus Rashford “Daniel” during a Sky News interview.

The Manchester United footballer has captured the imagination of the nation after successfully campaigning for the government to U-turn on the free school meal vouchers scheme, which on Tuesday was extended through the summer holidays to help provide food for the 1.3 million vulnerable children who depend on them.

Boris Johnson spoke to Mr Rashford on Tuesday after agreeing to extend the scheme until schools return in September, having initially rejected calls for such a U-turn, with Mr Rashford’s campaign gaining huge support following his passionate letter to MPs on Monday morning.

But despite being the No 1 trend in the UK on Twitter, Hancock still managed to get the England international’s name wrong during a live interview with Sky News’ Kay Burley.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Mr Hancock said: “Right-o, 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.”

The clip immediately gained traction on social media, with Gary Lineker posting the video along with a jibe at the health secretary.

“Good to see Matt Hancock finally giving credit to footballers and Daniel Rashford in particular,” Lineker wrote.

The player himself responded to Lineker’s tweet, adding: “I’ve been called much worse over the last couple of days.”

The secretary of state later clarified that he had “Harry Potter on the mind”, which appeared to be a reference towards actor Daniel Radcliffe who played the title character in the film series.

Speaking on LBC shortly after, Mr Hancock added: “My seven-year-old listens to Harry Potter and reads Harry Potter avidly, including at 5.30 this morning when I got up to do this morning’s media round.”

He suggested it had been “too early in the morning” and laughed as he told BBC Breakfast: “I completely misspoke.”

He added in a tweet sent to Mr Rashford: “Too early. But in all seriousness Marcus you’re a credit to the nation.”

🤦‍♂️ Too early. But in all seriousness Marcus you’re a credit to the nation.
🧙‍♂️ https://t.co/nAaOG3wwlL

— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) June 17, 2020

“As I said yesterday this was never about politics or me,” Mr Rashford replied. “The PM didn’t need to U-turn the decision but I’m thankful he did. I asked you to listen and you did that so on behalf of all mums like mine, dads and carers that are struggling across the country, thank you.”

At the start of the coronavirus lockdown, Mr Hancock called on Premier League footballers to “do their bit” and help out financially those who were in vulnerable positions, which gained criticism as it appeared a deflection tactic from the government’s own shortcomings.

Mr Rashford though has proven one of the key figures in helping others in a time of desperate need, having started a charity scheme alongside FareShare that is now delivering more than three million meals to hungry families every week

Marcus Rashford campaigned to support disadvantaged children (Getty)

He also stressed that the success in forcing the government into extending the food voucher scheme is only the start of his plan to combat child poverty, which stems from his own experiences as a child of being in a vulnerable position.

“This is only going to be successful throughout the summer period, so we’ve bought ourselves an extra six weeks of time there, and then we’ll figure out what’s next and how we keep taking steps forward,” Mr Rashford told BBC Breakfast.

“I don’t want this to be the end of it because I think there are more steps that need to be taken, so we just need to analyse the response.”