Angela Rayner tears into Tory MP over ’30p a day meals’ with Space Raiders joke
Angela Rayner labels Boris Johnson a ‘liar’
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The MP for Ashfield invited “everybody” from the Labour party in the Commons to visit a foodbank in his Nottinghamshire constituency. Those who visit this food bank will now need to register for both a “cooking course” and a “budgeting course”.
When questioned on the need for foodbanks in 2022 by a Labour MP, Mr Anderson responded that “generation after generation” of people accessing foodbanks “cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.
Speaking during a Commons debate on the Queen’s speech, the Ashfield MP said “30p a day” was enough to “cook meals from scratch”.
The Labour deputy leader, who has previously spoken about her experiences with poverty, derided Mr Anderson’s comments by suggesting the Tory MP would be dining on a packet of Space Raiders crisps.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP tweeted: “What’s Lee Anderson cooking tonight?”
Underneath, she attached an image of the popular crisp brand that cost 30p.
After attracting criticism for his remarks, Mr Anderson defended his stance, saying: “Gutter Press Again.”
He continued on Facebook: “I did not say poor people cannot cook or there is no need for food banks. I said there is not the need currently being parroted out by the MSM (mainstream media).
“Today I challenged the whole Parliamentary Labour Party to come to Ashfield to visit the food bank I work with. They give food parcels away on the condition the[y] enrol for cooking and budgeting lessons.
“I have done several events at the foodbank where we batch cooked food on a budget. My offer stands. Come to Ashfield.”
Reacting to Mr Anderson’s comments, the Trussell Trust charity quickly said that “cooking meals from scratch won’t help families keep the lights on or put food on the table, if they don’t have enough money in their pockets”.
The Trussell Trust is the UK’s biggest food bank provider, and has given away 2,173,158 emergency food parcels in the year since April 2021.
Food charity group Sustain picked up on Mr Anderson’s comment that there was not “this massive use for food banks” across the country, denouncing the remark as “shockingly and dangerously ill-informed”.
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Orla Delargy, head of public affairs for the charity, continued: “Just this week we’ve learned of a 57% increase in food poverty in the last three months.
“Seven million adults in this country have gone without food in the last month. Our food bank colleagues have reported that they are overstretched to breaking point with the level of need.”
The Trades Union Congress said the Ashfield MP’s remarks showed “how out-of-touch Conservative MPs and ministers are with the cost of living emergency”.
Shadow work and pensions minister, Karen Buck, said the comments were “out of touch” with the experiences and anecdotes being heard from voters.
She said: “In the world where people actually live, we now hear daily stories of families going without food and others unable to turn their ovens on in fear of rising energy bills.
“The idea that the problem is cooking skills and not 12 years of Government decisions that are pushing people into extreme poverty is beyond belief. Out of touch doesn’t even cover it.”
Wendy Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson, called for Mr Anderson to immediately apologise.
She said in a statement: “These comments are disgraceful and an insult to millions of hard-working people who are struggling to put food on the table for their family through no fault of their own.
“Lee Anderson should apologise straight away for his shameful remarks.”
However, Mr Anderson was supported by Conservative MP Ben Bradley, who told Nottinghamshire Live that there was an underlying issue with “poor education” and a lack of “basic skills”.
The Mansfield MP said: “People take Lee’s comments about a small group of people, and there is a cycle, he is absolutely right, about a small number, or a large number really, but a minority, of families and generations of poor education, poor basic skills around cooking and budgeting, if you don’t know as a parent how to do things and you find that cycle of poverty and it is important to break into that at some stage with the kind of education Lee is talking about.”
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