A Nottinghamshire MP has questioned the existence of food poverty and said the UK will only have a full economic crisis once Wetherspoons pubs are empty. Conservative MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, has criticised the UK's "generous" benefits system, parents who let their kids go hungry and food banks, claiming people can cook meals from scratch for just 30p a day.
The Conservative MP has also called on his supporters to not pay their TV licence fees, and said those who want to buy a home need to knuckle down and work seven days a week. Mr Anderson claimed queues in pubs and packed football stadiums show things are not as bad as experts say, reports The Daily Mirror.
During the party conference in Birmingham, the 55 year old said: "Go in any Wetherspoons, that's the barometer of how this country is doing, when Wetherspoons is empty we've got a big problem." He then accused the media of fearmongering, telling his audience that "whenever we put the TV on people are telling us how poor we are."
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JD Wetherspoon put 32 of its pubs up for sale last week, after previously warning that the business could face loses of £30m due to rising staff wages and repairs. Mr Anderson also defended controversial comments he made in the House of Commons in May, about food banks and claims people could cook meals from scratch for 30p a day.
He said: "I've got a big bee in my bonnet about food poverty. I'm a big believer that we do need food banks, but not to the degree we've got them.
"Every do gooder is starting these little projects to make themselves feel good." Mr Anderson told the party conference that he had worked with a local chef in his Ashfield constituency to make 172 meals after spending £50 in a supermarket, after which he was named "30p Lee."
He added: "That stuck but in a good sort of way, it got people talking about food poverty." The MP claimed that young people are missing out on basic budgeting and told the crowds that "if I got home economics brought back I'd be a very happy man."
Mr Anderson also claimed that children go hungry due to the failings of their parents, and said: "I'll take no lectures from the left. How can we have food poverty when we've got an obesity crisis?"
He said: "We're in a world where the only input they have is having the children, as soon as they're born they're someone else's responsibility... Unfortunately we've got some parents who just don't look after their children, I'm not ashamed to say that."
The 55 year old recounted stealing eggs from bird's nest as a child and how one friend blew out the yolk out to eat it. He said: "When people bang on about kids being hungry, I've seen that poverty, I grew up around that poverty.
"I saw my mum and dad struggle on a Sunday night, they'd put their money on the table, then they'd be skint for the week. That's real poverty."
The Conservative MP also said that when he bought his first home in 1990, people would work 12-hour days seven days a week and take on second jobs just to get on the housing ladder. He added: "I'm sorry, but you can't have everything.
"If you want that property there are certain sacrifices you have to make to get it." During his speech, Mr Anderson also told the audience "I don't watch the BBC, I've ripped my license up" and urged others to do the same.
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