Tory Lee Anderson bought a lavish, six bedroom house months before suggesting poor people struggle to afford food because they don't know how to cook or budget.
Mr Anderson sparked fury this week claiming there wasn’t “this massive use” for food banks in the UK, and claiming meals only cost 30p.
And today he claimed to the Sunday Mirror that not all people who use food banks are “poor.”
Mr Anderson said he had purchased the new-build house for almost half a million pounds to give him and his wife, who he said was terminally ill, greater security after being targeted by protesters.
The couple moved into the property during the Euro 2020 football finals, which Mr Anderson boycotted over England players 'taking the knee' in protest against racism.
The purchase price of the house was more than double the average house price in Kirkby.
It comes after Mr Anderson sparked fury by blaming food poverty on a lack of cooking skills.
He told the Commons: "I think you’ll see first-hand that there’s not this massive use for food banks in this country.
“You’ve got generation after generation who cannot cook properly. They can’t cook a meal from scratch. They cannot budget.”
Mr Anderson based his claim that meals could be made for as little as 30p on a day spent learning to cook and budget under the instruction of a professional chef.
Today he told the Sunday Mirror: "Nearly everybody I've spoken to in the real world in this past 24 hours in Ashfield agrees with what I have to say."
And he claimed his speech had been misinterpreted in the media, and insisted he wasn't talking about "poor people."
He said: "Are they all poor people who use food banks? Where have I mentioned [poor people]? Are you making assumptions that everyone who uses food banks is poor, is that what you're doing?"
Food banks provided hungry families with more than 19 million meals in the year to March as the cost-of-living crisis began to bite.
Britain’s biggest food bank network, the Trussell Trust, gave away 2,173,158 emergency parcels in the 12 months from last April - with more than 800,000 going to families with children.
"I never said poor people can't cook," Mr Anderson said. "In fact I would say that poor people make some of the best cooks. People like my Grandma and my parents when I was growing up. They were poor, but they were brilliant cooks.
"The point is that now there are people that have limited cooking skills and budgeting skills and the foodbank I work with provides training in these skills when people come for a coupon.
"I make no apologies for trying to help people in my community, who on the whole agree with my sentiments.”
Mr Anderson's Parliamentary expenses ran to more than £222,000 in 2020-21, an increase of almost £50,000 on the year before.
That figure includes £165,200 on staff wages and £32,100 on other office expenditures.
He also claimed back £21,200 on accommodation and £4,100 on travel and "subsistence."
That included hotel stays, train tickets and £67.57 listed as "hospitality.”
“Ashfield residents are angry with Lee Anderson. Really angry," local council leader Jason Zadrozny said.
"I’d like to reassure people that the Ashfield District is not full of uncaring, out of touch Tories like Lee Anderson.
“In fact, it is getting harder and harder to find any Tory supporters at all in Ashfield. This could be the final straw for his last few supporters.”
