Lee Anderson has played down “this poverty nonsense”, insisting the UK is the best country in the world and there was “real poverty” in the 1970s.
The Conservative Party deputy chairman also defended his position and previous comments on food poverty, saying when he was young “we didn’t go on TikTok or Facebook or moan and say: ‘I’ve got no food'”, adding that his family’s philosophy was: “They’re our kids, we’ll feed them.”
He was speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester hosted by Conservative Home and UK In A Changing Europe, and appeared to row back at the end of the event on the validity of making comparisons with the 1970s.
Referencing the pandemic, Mr Anderson said: “We’re two years behind, I think, on delivering what we promised to deliver, but I think now we’re on the right track.”
He went on: “It’s still the best country in the world, there’s plenty of jobs, people have got money. I don’t believe all this nonsense about, you know, you know my stance on the food poverty stuff…
“This poverty nonsense. Go in a time machine back into when I was growing up in the 70s, that was real poverty… It’s nonsense now, it’s absolute nonsense.
“Yeah things are tough, things are difficult for families, people are struggling to budget sometimes, but this is not an impoverished island. This is a wealthy country and the countries they are limitless in the UK, if you want something you can go and get it.
“You need to get off your arse and go and get it for yourself.”
Speaking later in the event, he said he was able to say things that other Tory MPs have not, referencing his own hardships growing up and his previous jobs, including as a coal miner.
He said: “Our food bank was my dad’s garden.
“When we’d not got enough food at the end of week we had to go down and pull some potatoes out and cabbages and go and get a chicken and that was our Sunday dinner. It’s as simple as that.
“We didn’t go on TikTok or Facebook or moan and say: ‘I’ve got no food,’ because my mum and dad’s philosophy was simple: ‘They’re our kids, we’ll feed them.’ That’s how I was brought up.
“So when I talk about food poverty… and the 30p meals and all that sort of stuff, I’m speaking about that from a position of strength – I’ve been there, I’ve done it.”
But he appeared to row back on the remarks later in the event, saying: “I think it’s probably an unfair comparison just comparing life now to what it was in the 70s, although I do do it sometimes.”