Ann Widdecombe yesterday joined the list of out-of-touch politicians telling struggling families to make sacrifices to survive, as food costs continue to spiral out of control.
The former Tory’s condescending answer to being told the price of cheese sandwiches has risen by up to 101% was for people to stop making them.
One expert said ordinary people are sick of being told how to get by on next to nothing by wealthy politicians who have never known true poverty.
Ms Widdecombe also laid into workers asking for a fair wage, claiming it would spark inflation, without realising it has been rising for months while staff suffer real-term pay cuts.
She echoes the patronising rantings of wealthy Tories such as Lee Anderson and Iain Duncan Smith who have both claimed they can survive on a pittance. Reform party member Ms Widdecombe, 75, was asked on BBC ’s Politics Live: “What do you say to consumers who literally can’t afford to pay for even some of the basics if they have gone up the way that a cheese sandwich has?”
She replied: “Well then you don’t do the cheese sandwich.
“Because we have been decades without inflation we have come to regard it as some sort of given right that our food doesn’t go up.”
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She branded pay rise pleas “utterly unrealistic”. Consumer expert Scott Dixon said: “People are sick and tired of hearing politicians who are clearly out of touch with the harsh reality and struggles millions of people face.”
Lib Dem Sarah Olney added: “How out of touch can you get? Families are struggling to afford the weekly shop.” Tamar Watson, who told this week how she could no longer afford bread, said: “I can only assume Widdecombe has not experienced true deprivation.”
Latest figures from Which? showed the price of some cheeses have soared by as much as 101%. And recent BBC data revealed the cost of making such a sandwich at home has gone up by 37% to 40p a serving.
Food inflation reached 19.1% in March, the highest level since 1977.
In May last year, Mr Anderson, who claimed more than £200,000 in expenses, said people “could make a meal for around 30p a day”.
That same month Tory George Eustice said buying own-brand food saves cash. In 2013, Universal Credit architect Mr Duncan Smith claimed he could live on £7 a week benefits.
