I’M not a huge footie fan. I enjoy the sport but something about the tribalism of it all sets my teeth on edge. But this week we had a welcome hero from the world of football in the shape of 22 year old Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford and his passionate, thoughtful and gutsy campaign to have free school meal provision for children extended over the summer holidays.
Clearly other factors were at play in the UK Government’s change of heart. Some 20 minutes before the announcement, the Scottish Government had said it was extending its scheme to cover the summer holidays, with the First Minister paying tribute to Rashford, the Welsh government had already planned for an extension and heaven forfend that Westminster should be seen as playing catch-up with the rest of the country. The Conservative’s former darling in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, had tweeted her criticism of the policy to end the scheme and someone in Downing Street suddenly remembered that the Conservatives had been elected by many of the people who might actually need to use a scheme like this, and not feeding hungry weans is maybe not the best look. Add onto all that a celebrity with a cause and the sounds of screeching brakes and hairpin turns echoed along Downing Street.
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Rashford is the perfect poster boy for an anti-poverty campaign. Black, young, from a single-parent family and successful, his demands for an extension of the scheme were based on lived personal experience, and it doesn’t get much more relevant than that. His critics tried to point to his wealth as a way of detracting and pointing out the privilege he now enjoys, but watching as a young footballer used that privilege to improve the condition of others rather than himself, is instructive. This is precisely why he and others like him should use their positions to bring about change. The huge social media platforms with millions of followers, the instant recognisability, the constant media hunger for content are all powerful tools in the armoury. Whilst for some it can lead to wholesale policy change like Joanna Lumley’s championing of the Ghurka soldiers to stay in the UK, or Jamie Oliver’s healthy school dinners campaign, for others it can help to gently sow the seeds of debate within society. David Attenborough’s consistent messaging on the environment and Chris Packham’s views on animal welfare spring to mind. It helps too if your campaign is one that’s morally tricky to oppose. I can’t think of too many arguments against feeding children in poverty in 21st century Britain.
It actually makes me wonder why more celebrities don’t use their power to push for policy change. From a PR and financial perspective it can of course backfire. Chris Packham was afraid that some of his animal welfare campaigning might be held against him in his role as a television presenter, and more recently we saw Star Wars actor John Boyega worry that his role in Black Lives Matter protests might cost him some juicy Hollywood roles. Lucasfilm, the Star Wars producers, assured him that he had their full support. Many celebrities fear their income streams might dry up if a brand they are endorsing suddenly takes umbrage at a social or political stance they are taking. In 2016 in the US, Nike almost dropped Colin Kaepernick over his taking the knee stance, before changing their minds. On Wednesday night we saw 22 footballers, officials and coaching staff take the knee in support of anti-racism at the restart of the English Premier League sending a message to hundreds of thousands of football fans.
There are clearly dangers with using and harnessing the power of celebrity. Without sound advice, young celebrities or ‘influencers’ could find themselves being manipulated by lobbyists or groups whose aims are perhaps more morally questionable. Worse still they might feel compelled by external pressures to say something rather than remain silent on the sidelines. Celebrity itself can sometimes blind us too. It’s important that we don't pay so much attention to the big names that we push our scientists and experts to one side because they are not quite entertaining or famous enough.
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Certainly our Prime Minister seems to have disposed of his scientific experts in favour of his own one-man show briefings.
On the whole, though, the power of celebrity to bring about change is a positive. What great role models celebrities or social media influencers would be if, instead of chasing the rewards that come with the number of products and brands they can shove onto their unsuspecting followers, they watched Marcus Rashford’s masterclass in affecting change and thought it could be a handy additional use for their platforms. I mean, they have to have their uses.
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