The is more than one reason why the Tories have done so little to help families with the cost of living.
It is not just that they are incompetent.
They also have no idea of how tough life is for so many households.
The attitude of the party was summed up by Conservative MP Lee Anderson, who claimed there was not a massive need for foodbanks and that people are only going hungry because they had not learned to cook properly.
It is probably pointless trying to explain to someone as dull-witted as Mr Anderson that people turn to foodbanks when rising prices mean they can’t afford basic items.
Nor is it any use explaining that people have less money because his Government has cut pensions and benefits while raising taxes.
His facile comments show that the Tories would rather blame others than take responsibility for the crisis unfolding on their watch.
Mr Anderson is not a lone voice in the party.
He shares a mindset with Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who failed to act in his Spring Statement, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose Queen’s Speech programme was bereft of ideas on how to ease the financial squeeze.
Brussels fight
Boris Johnson hailed the Northern Ireland Protocol as a “great agreement” back when he signed it.
But now the Prime Minister is threatening to rip up parts of it, in protest at the bureaucratic burden it has imposed on trade. Far from delivering on his promise to get Brexit done, he is set to provoke another battle with Brussels – to rectify a mistake of his own making.
The Government needs to dial down the rhetoric and work with the European Union to find a way to make the protocol work.
Wills’ wails
Prince William today whisked Kate away from a school visit before she had a chance to get broody.
The prospect of a fourth child had obviously throne him off balance.
