A Tory minister has been criticised after claiming that using food banks is “a personal decision”.
Johnny Mercer made the comments while being interviewed by Kay Burley on Sky News this morning.
The veterans minister was asked about reports that armed forces personnel are having to use food banks as the cost of living crisis continues.
Burley asked him: “Is there any need for military personnel to be using food banks?”
Mercer said: “These are personal decisions around how people are budgeting every month. I don’t want to see anyone using food banks, of course I don’t, but we’re in an extremely difficult time around the cost of living.
“I’ll always advocate for service personnel to get paid more. I’d be mad not to. But it all has to be within the constraints of a budget.”
But Burley replied: “People don’t choose to use food banks. You’re saying it’s a choice whether they use them or not. It’s not, they’re using them because they’re saying they have no alternative.”
The minister said: “Well in my experience that’s not correct. I think there are some dire cases that we need to do more to wrap our arms around and make sure there’s a safety net for people.
“I don’t want to see anybody using food banks, but being in the military still affords you a good wage, a good quality of life and that will continue to be the case.”
Mercer came under fire on social media for his remarks.