Food bank use a ‘personal decision’, says veterans minister

Johnny Mercer, minister for veterans' affairs, told Sky News that it was ‘not correct’ to say people only used food banks when they had no choice. Photograph: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

The use of food banks is a personal decision for some people and not an accurate measure of levels of poverty across the UK, the veterans minister has said.

Johnny Mercer argued that food banks remained a lifeline for “some dire cases” but that it was “not correct” to say people used them only when they had no choice.