Spare a thought for the Conservative MP Lee Anderson, who has spent the past few days single-handedly trying to solve Britain’s cost of living crisis with very little thanks. It all started after he stated in the Commons that food banks are unnecessary in Britain because the main cause of food poverty is a lack of cooking and budgetary skills. “I think you’ll see first-hand that there’s not this massive use for food banks in this country,” the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire proclaimed. “You’ve got generation after generation who cannot cook properly. They can’t cook a meal from scratch. They cannot budget.” Nutritious meals, he added, could be easily cooked for 30p a time.
Not one to see a hole and stop digging, Anderson has launched an ill-advised media round to defend himself after a backlash, including criticism from the anti-poverty campaigner and budget cooking expert Jack Monroe. Anderson told Times Radio he was glad he had whipped up a “leftwing” furore “because at the moment all we’re hearing in chamber is ‘food bank use is on the up’”. Probably because it is. Anderson doubled down in an interview with the deputy leader of the Reclaim party, Martin Daubney, even alleging that Monroe was profiteering from the poor. Monroe has since instructed libel lawyers.
