Tory MP condemned after blaming food poverty on lack of cooking skills

Lee Anderson provokes furious response by telling Commons that food banks are largely unnecessary

The Conservative MP Lee Anderson has been condemned by opposition MPs and campaigners after arguing in the Commons that food banks are largely unnecessary because the main cause of food poverty is a lack of cooking and budgetary skills.

The comments by the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire also prompted veiled criticism from a fellow Tory, Stephen Crabb, the former work and pensions secretary.