Tory MP taken to task over his ‘can’t cook’ comments on food bank users

A TORY MP has been condemned after saying food bank users cannot cook or budget properly.

Ashfield MP Lee Anderson made the comments in the Commons during a debate about the Queen’s Speech.

He invited opposition MPS to visit a food bank in his constituency where people who attend are registered for a “cooking course” and a “budgeting course”, he claimed.

The remarks have been criticised from all sides, with Mr Anderson now facing calls to apologise. Mr Anderson said: “My invitation is to everybody on that side of the House, come to Ashfield and work with me for a day in my food bank and see the brilliant scheme we have got in place where when people come now, for a food parcel, they have to register for a budgeting course and a cooking course.

“We show them how to cook cheap and nutritious meals on a budget.”

Intervening, Labour’s Alex Cunningham, asked: “Should it be necessary to have food banks in 21st century Britain?”

Mr Anderson replied: “He makes a great point and this is exactly my point.

“So, I invite you personally to come to Ashfield, look at our food bank, how it works and I think you will see first hand that there’s not this massive use for food banks in this country but generation after generation who cannot cook properly, they can’t cook a meal from scratch.

“They cannot budget. “

Speaking directly after him, SNP MP Joanna Cherry said people do not use food banks because they do not know how to cook, but because “we have poverty in this country at a scale that should shame his Government”. Shadow work and pensions minister Karen Buck said: “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 does not even cover it.”

Lib Dem work and pensions spokeswoman Wendy Chamberlain added: “Lee Anderson should apologise straight away for his shameful remarks.

“These comments are disgraceful and an insult to millions of hardworking people who are struggling to put food on the table for their family through no fault of their own.”

Alison Garnham, Child Poverty Action Group’s chief executive, commented: “Four million children are living in poverty in the UK, and it’s not because their parents can’t cook.

“There are few households better at budgeting than those on a low income, they have to do it every single day.

“Rather than insulting parents who have no option but to use food banks, politicians would do better to back real-world solutions, like bringing benefits in line with inflation this autumn.”