'Detached from planet earth!': England rugby star Courtney Lawes slammed over deleted tweet to Marcus Rashford telling people to be 'financially secure and preferably married' before having children

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England rugby star Courtney Lawes has been slammed on Twitter for suggesting the struggle to feed children highlighted by Marcus Rashford could be solved by people 'being financially secure and preferably married before having kids.'

Rashford has forced the Government into a U-turn over meal vouchers for disadvantaged children reliant on school meals during the Covid-19 crisis, a scheme that will now continue over the summer holidays.

The England and Manchester United forward reacted to Boris Johnson's announcement by tweeting: 'I don't even know what to say. Just look at what we can do when we come together. THIS is England in 2020.'

England rugby star Courtney Lawes sparked a furious Twitter backlash by suggesting how to solve some of the problems highlights by Marcus Rashford's school meals campaign

Lawes responded to Rashford's tweet after the Government extended a meal voucher scheme

Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford arrives at the club's Carrington training complex this morning

Replying to that tweet, Lawes wrote: 'Great win mate, you've done a [sic] incredible thing for a lot of young people! Maybe now would be a good time to bring some attention to the important of being financially secure and preferably married before having kids?

'That would go a long way to treating a big part of the issue.'

Lawes deleted the tweets a few minutes later having provoked a furious Twitter reaction.

Lawes was accused of being 'detached from planet Earth' with many pointing out that marriage was no guarantee of financial security, especially during the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lawes responded to a number of tweets. In one he wrote: 'It's detached from planet earth to want to think about weather [sic] they're able to afford to raise a child before they have one?'

Rashford has spearheaded a campaign that has raised £20m to feed kids during the pandemic

Lawes was accused of being 'detached from planet earth' in one of the responses 

Lawes responded to a number of the replies to his tweet before deciding to delete it

Lawes countered that his opinion was a way to prevent children growing up in poverty

To one comment that accused him of 'the typical snobbery of rugby union players', Lawes replied: 'I honestly don't know how you can be offended by what I just said.'

Some of the responses, however, agreed with Lawes's sentiment. His tweet had received hundreds of replies before Lawes took the decision to delete it.

When other Twitter users replied with screenshots of the deleted tweet, Lawes said: 'Wasn't aiming to offend anyone. It was clearly just a suggestion that I genuinely thought could help. Looks like I was wrong.'

Rashford has spearheaded a campaign that has raised £20million to provide three million meals for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who usually receive free school meals.

And now he has persuaded Prime Minister Boris Johnson into extending over the school holidays a £15-a-week food voucher scheme that benefits 1.3million children.

Downing Street said on Tuesday the £120m Covid Summer Food Fund was a 'one-off' recognition of the struggles families will face as lockdown dents the economy.

Rashford has led a campaign that has raised £20m to provide free meals for children