An MP has suggested that families grappling with the rising cost of living should buy supermarket own brand baked beans instead of Heinz. Brendan Clarke-Smith, who is the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, made the comment as food and drink price inflation hit 19.2% in the year to March.
Mr Clarke-Smith was part of a panel on a TV show discussing whether supermarkets were profiteering as they hike prices. The rate of food and drink inflation sits at nearly double the overall rate of inflation, which is 10.1%.
He told LBC's Cross Question: "Heinz Baked Beans, say the price has shot up on that and people say, 'oh this tin has gone up by 50% or whatever'. Well, buy the Tesco Value one."
Presenter Iain Dale challenged him on the claim, saying both products taste different, reports the Mirror.
Asked if supermarkets were profiteering, Mr Clarke-Smith argued that the Government shouldn't be intervening, saying: "You can buy something from somewhere else. I want people to make a profit. I don't want Government to have to step in because they are making big losses and then they are not paying any tax or so on. Making profits is not a bad thing."
But he said supermarkets shouldn't be "profiteering and taking advantage", and should be paying farmers a fair price.
Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon said: “It’s clear Tory MPs don’t take food security seriously. Brendan Clark-Smith MP telling hard-pressed British families in a cost of living crisis to ‘just eat value beans’ is out of touch and offensive.
“Tory MPs should focus on tackling the cost of living crisis rather than lecturing hardworking families on what food to put on their table. Only Labour can build a better Britain - a place of growth and optimism that moves on from 13 years of Tory failure.”
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Lib Dem Sarah Olney said: "It is frankly insulting that the Conservative Party wants to lecture the British public into buying a cheaper tin of baked beans. We need an immediate plan from this government on how to bring food prices down and support our farmers. Instead the Conservative Party is hitting families with a toxic cocktail of rising inflation, energy bills and spiralling mortgages."
Mr Clarke-Smith's comment came after former Tory Minister Ann Widdecombe sparked outrage yesterday by telling people to give up cheese sandwiches if the cost of basics are too high. Mr Clarke-Smith previously sparked fury when he said firefighters using food banks needed to learn "how to budget".
The Tory MP said reports that emergency workers paid £32,000 salaries were resorting to food banks were "ridiculous".
“I respect the profession, but £32,244 and using a food bank? Never heard such a ridiculous thing in my life," he tweeted. “I earned a lot less than that for most of my teaching career, and so do many of my constituents. If true, which is unlikely, I suggest learning how to budget and prioritise.”
Tory Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson has also repeatedly railed against struggling Brits using foodbanks. Dubbed '30p Lee' for claiming he can make meals for a pittance, Mr Anderson has also claimed poor Brits can't budget or "cook properly" and said foodbank users are short of cash because they spend it on cigarettes, alcohol, expensive TV subscriptions and holidays.
It comes after 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.”
Lib Dem Sarah Olney said: “How out of touch can you get? Families are struggling to afford the weekly shop."
