The Conservative leader of Northumberland County Council has refused calls from the leader of the opposition to apologise for remarks made by one of his cabinet members.
Coun Glen Sanderson also said he would not agree with an article printed in the Journal where the project manager of one of Northumberland's foodbanks warned families were going for days without food and criticised remarks made by cabinet member Jeff Watson.
Coun Sanderson was responding to a question from Labour leader Scott Dickinson, who called on the council boss to apologise for Coun Watson's remarks, made to Guardian journalist Owen Jones at the Conservative Party Conference last month.
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Told by Mr Jones that three million people are at risk of malnutrition in Britain, Coun Watson denied people were starving in Northumberland, adding: "People aren't starving in the streets, they haven't got rickets." The comments led to calls for his resignation from Labour MP Ian Lavery.
Speaking at Wednesday's meeting of Northumberland County Council, Coun Dickinson said: "Places like Alnwick, Amble, Berwick and the Tyne Valley - their food banks are saying there is more and more people accessing their services each week.
"It is sad when the Journal reports the foodbank charities and their bosses have had to refute the remarks of a cabinet member from this council. So will the leader join me in apologising to the wider community for the remarks of the cabinet member, and assure people that we do not use dying in the streets and rickets as a cause of action."
Coun Dickinson was referring to comments made by Linda Fugill, operations manager at Wansbeck Valley Foodbank, who said people turning to their service for support have often not eaten for days and have empty cupboards. Linda, who helped set up the service a decade ago, also claimed it had never been as busy.
Responding to Coun Dickinson's question, Coun Sanderson said: "You're asking me would I agree with something that the Journal printed, and the answer is no I would not.
"What I will say is I have complete commitment to what we're doing with Northumberland Communities Together and complete commitment to tackling inequalities.
"That is demonstrated by the work we are doing, and by people buying in from all the groups I see here."
Under Coun Sanderson's administration, Northumberland has made tackling inequalities a "key priority" for the first time. Earlier in the meeting, Coun Sanderson said: "To that end, we have an action plan and we have a budget to make sure that things happen.
"This is hugely important to me personally and to the administration. Of course I will listen to anyone, I will help anyone and the council will help anyone they possibly can.
"I'm hugely grateful to my cabinet, to my administration and to all members for being wholly being all the work we are doing to tackle inequalities."
Coun Sanderson also pointed out that in 2021 28% of parents said they would skip meals for their children to eat, while in 2004 - under a Labour Government - that figure was 46%.
However, that data comes from a report called "Going Hungry", carried out by the Food Commission which found that 46% of parents on low incomes had gone short of food in the last year to feed someone else in their family. In contrast, a YouGov survey carried out last year found that 23% of parents surveyed, regardless of income, said they had to forego food themselves.
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