Lee Anderson has said if he had to choose between heating and eating he would choose heat as he would live longer.
The new deputy chairman of the Conservative Party famously said people could feed themselves on 30p a day if they new how to budget and cook.
In an interview last week with Lois Perry, director of climate sceptic group Car26, Anderson was asked: “Heat or eat?”
“It’s got be heat,” he said. “You can live longer without food than you can without heat — it’s just simple biology.”
Soaring prices have led to warnings people are being forced to choose between heating their homes or feeding themselves and their families.
And a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation charity this month found more than seven million people found it was not even a choice as they could not afford to do either properly.
In the interview, Anderson also said the government’s target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 was “not a vote winner”.
Anderson said while he was “not a denier” climate change was a “world problem” which “needs a world solution”.
“You could turn all these cameras off, shut down England and we could all move back in caves tomorrow morning and it won’t make an iota of a difference to the planet,” he said.
Anderson also said it was “quite likely” the civil service was blocking the UK becoming energy independent as many officials started their careers under the previous Labour government.
“The civil service for me is one of the biggest problems in the country,” he said.
Rishi Sunak has said he is “absolutely committed” to net zero and last week created a new Department for Energy Security & Net Zero.
Anneliese Dodds, the Labour Party chair, said: “Hopefully no one is relying on Lee Anderson’s YouTube videos for science lessons.
“From comments about the death penalty to his bizarre thoughts on food banks, his free-form rambling is becoming more and more embarrassing for Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives.
“Sunak is too weak to stand up to his cabinet, his party or the energy giants ripping the country off. Is he strong enough to deal with Lee Anderson’s nonsense?”
Anderson has made headline since the prime minister promoted him last week, including an interview in which he called for the return of the death penalty.