Angela Rayner suggests Tory MP has Space Raiders for tea after ‘disgraceful’ food bank comments

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has joked that Tory MP Lee Anderson must be having Space Raiders crisps for his tea after his ‘disgraceful’ comments on food banks.

Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, came under fire on Thursday after he suggested there is no ‘massive use’ for food banks in Britain and that those who use them simply ‘cannot cook properly’ and ‘cannot budget’.

During Thursday’s Commons debate, Anderson invited MPs to visit a food bank in his constituency to witness a ‘brilliant scheme’ that requires users to register for a budgeting and cooking course.

He said: “We show them how to cook cheap and nutritious meals on a budget – we can make a meal for about 30p a day – and this is cooking from scratch”.

Anderson’s comments on the cost of food and budgeting have been met with huge scrutiny, with MPs and members of the public alike criticising his ‘out of touch’ and ‘disgraceful’ stance on the issue.

But taking a slightly different approach, Stockport-born Rayner decided to share an image of retro crisps Space Raiders – which cost around 30p per packet – to highlight the absurdity of Anderson’s comments.

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She wrote alongside the image: “What’s Lee Anderson cooking tonight?”

The Trussell Trust – the largest network of food bank providers in the UK – also spoke out to debunk Anderson’s claims, pointing out that the main factors driving people to use food banks are problems with the benefits system, challenging life experiences, ill health or lack of informal or formal support.

Sumi Rabindrakumar, head of policy at the Trussell Trust, told The Independent: “Research from the Trussell Trust and other independent organisations is clear – that food bank need in the UK is about lack of income, not food.

“Cooking 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.

“Our research shows that people at food banks had on average just £57 a week to live on after housing costs, and no amount of budget management or cooking classes will make this stretch to cover council tax, energy bills, food and all the other essentials we all need to get by.

“That’s why we’re urgently calling on the government to bring benefits in line with the true cost of living and – in the longer term – to introduce a commitment in the benefits system to ensure everyone can afford the essentials we all need to survive.”