Edwina Currie’s Cruel Jibe at the Poor

Edwina Curry

SUNDAY EXPRESS: FORMER Tory MP Edwina Currie last night provoked outrage by saying that ­people who use food banks waste their money on ­tattoos and dog food.

Her comments come as ­figures show that more than 100,000 people had to turn to food banks at Christmas. This is double the 2012 figure and a record number.

A million Britons, a third of them children, relied on food banks last year, according to estimates.

Last night Ms Currie was attacked for a “disgusting insult” to those living below the poverty line and for making “crude and outrageous generalisations”. Speaking on Radio Stoke last week, the 67-year-old said: “For the life of me I can’t see how giving someone a tin of soup when they are suffering from a mental illness or if they’ve got debt problems is going to contribute in any long-term way to solving their problems.

“If people have got into debt they should be asking themselves ‘Why did I get into debt and what did I do that was stupid to get into debt and what can I avoid doing in the future? How do I actually take control of my life so I am not in this situation?" » | Lucy Johnstone | Sunday, January 19, 2014