Food bank quip insults the poor

THE furore surrounding the comments made by Tory MP Lee Anderson is not surprising.

He is right in part as there are those in the younger generations who have never cooked and have been raised on a diet of fast food – borne out by obesity figures. But there are many more who cannot afford to cook even though they possess the skills to do so.

The poverty that affects the country is felt in all age groups with people living on the breadline.

They need to feel valued in society, with the frontline workers that kept the country going through the worst of the pandemic getting a decent pay rise, while benefits and pensions need to be brought in line with inflation. Maybe they could then afford to buy food and the fuel to cook it.

We constantly hear the mantra from overpaid MPs that they know of the public’s struggles, but very few are struggling with us!

J Allsop, Lowestoft, Suffolk

Once again a Tory MP has shown his contempt for the poor in this country. I presume the 30p he is referring to is the cost of the energy used to cook a meal? The Chancellor doesn’t want to do anything to help – presumably he’s trying to recoup the £37billion wasted on the failed test and trace project. People have to go to food banks not because they can’t budget but because there is no money to budget with.

Paul Booker

Clay Cross, Derbyshire

Lee Anderson said that the poor can’t cook properly or don’t have any budgeting skills and are using food banks because of this.

If you are poor you do know how to budget and if we can’t cook how come we use food banks?

I was lucky growing up in the 60s – my mum would not throw anything away. She showed me how to make some lovely meals for next to nothing and this is still happening today.

Because this government thinks only of themselves and their rich friends, they can’t comprehend how people who don’t have much live.

Pat Hillier, Wiltshire

Red Wall Tory MP Lee Anderson, seems to think there’s no need for food banks when people can cook a meal for as little as 30p.

There should be no need for food banks in the 21st century, but years of austerity, Brexit and Covid mismanagement, sleaze and

cronyism – all Tory political choices – have determined otherwise. It’s time the patronising Tories started serving the people of this country as they are paid to do. If not, loaned votes will be recalled at the next General Election.

Gordon Legg, Southampton

Does Conservative Lee Anderson not realise how ashamed a working-class family feels at having to go to a food bank because they don’t have enough money to feed their family, mainly because of Tory mismanagement?

I’m sure we could all manage on an MP’s salary, with their subsidised meals and expenses. Mike Martin, Redhill, Surrey

Lee Anderson is correct that food is cheaper when you cook from scratch. But people having to use food banks are not asking for takeaways, they want basic food they can cook at home so they can feed their families.

Lin Francis, Southampton