Parliament dumped more than 1,000 TONS of food waste over six years – enough for 2.6million meals, figures reveal
- Binned food over six years would fill 153 eight-ton skips, leading to outrage
- Food is subsidised, MPs’ salaries are £82,000 and second homes heated for free
- In contrast, 2 million adults frequently forced to go without food for whole day
- And millions more are cutting back amid the worsening cost of living crisis
MPs and Lords dumped 2.6million subsidised dinners over six years, figures have revealed amid a cost of living crisis.
The binned food over six years would fill 153 eight-ton skips, weighing 1,230 tons in total, a Freedom of Information request revealed.
MPs, who take home £82,000 salary -and 11% pay rise – enjoy subsidised food at Westminster.
It comes as more than two million UK adults have told of frequently being forced to go without food for a whole day, while millions more face below-inflation pay rises and fuel bills are set to rocket to over £6,000 a year next April.
Last year Commons officials recorded 148,230kg of food waste, down from 152,688kg in 2020, and 258,869kg in 2019. Waste in the three previous years totalled 677,510kg, the Mirror reports.
An explosion of outrage has followed the revelation wasteful MPs and Lords have dumped 2.6million subsidised dinners (pictured, the House of Commons)
Meanwhile, a a cost of living crisis has left ordinary people across the country struggling to feed their families
It reportedly equates to 2.6million meals which, had they sold at a typical £8, would have been worth £20.8million.
The Food Foundation revealed that between January and April, 7.3 million households were cutting back on meals or skipping them altogether – a staggering increase of 57 per cent.
Taxpayers spent a record £9.1 million subsidising food and drink in the Commons dining rooms in 2020-21. This is almost double the £4.6 million that was spent a year earlier.
And yet Westminster food sales for the 2020-21 period only came to £827,000.
MPs can enjoy the likes of a sirloin steak and chips for under £12, salmon tagliatelle and beer-battered cod and chips for less than £6.50, a curry for £4 or a jacket potato for a mere 85p.
Meanwhile, a permanent food bank is stationed under a mile away in Westminster, where 41 per cent of children live in poverty.
A slew of supermarket items have far outpaced the inflation rate, with the cost of low fat milk rising by 34 per cent on average over the past 12 months, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS)
Pictured, rising costs reported by the ONS. Over 2 million UK adults have even told of frequently being forced to go without food for a whole day
The headline CPI rate reached 10.1 per cent in July – well above analysts’ predictions of 9.8 per cent. It was up from 9.4 per cent the previous month
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to tackle food waste over a decade ago when he was Mayor of London in 2011
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to tackle food waste over a decade ago when he was Mayor of London in 2011, saying: ‘Throwing away mountains of perfectly edible food is crazy when all Londoners are feeling the pinch.
‘I want to do all I can to help people to cut waste, save cash by doing so and improve our great city.
‘This is why I am determined to cut the amount of food needlessly sent to landfill.’
Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse told the Mirror: ‘It is outrageous and astonishing that in a cost-of-living crisis, Parliament is the cause of so much food waste. Officials have a duty to reduce waste and, where possible, donate surplus food to local communities.’
The Waste and Resources Action Programme shared the shocking statistic that 9.5 million tons of food, worth £19 billion, is thrown away each year across Britain, despite much of it being edible.
FareShare, a distributor of food to frontline charities, said: ‘The equivalent of 1.3 billion meals of good-to-eat food is wasted annually in the UK.
‘We welcome organisations to get in touch with FareShare, to help us get more nutritious surplus food to those who need it most.’
Volunteers at Community for Food are seen unpacking donations at their centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. The demand for food banks across the country keep rising
The nation is currently in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation hitting over ten per cent, interest rates rising, and everyday food items soaring in price by as much as 34 per cent.
NHS bosses have explained that those who cannot afford to heat their home, buy nutritious food or cook a hot meal will see their health ‘quickly deteriorate’.
Earlier this week, a single mother told of how she was hospitalised with malnutrition twice after eating just one meal a day to ensure she could still afford to feed her two children.
Kelly Thomson, 43, has just £40-a-week to feed her family and said inflation means she fears this winter will leave her needing to resort to begging.
Kelly Thomson, 43, lives on £40 per week to feed herself and her two children. Pictured with her daughter, 11
The mother-of-two, from Slough, Berkshire, said rising food prices have made it near impossible for her to feed herself as well as her son, 14, and daughter, 11
Ms Thomson has lost two stone in weight because she only eats once a day, and was forced to take her daughter’s birthday gift to Cash Converters to get money for food
Although Ms Thomson’s universal credit covers her £1,300 monthly rent and a few other costs, she said she has just £160 a month left for all other bills.
The mother-of-two, from Slough, Berkshire, said rising food prices have made it near impossible for her to feed herself as well as her own children.
Ms Thomson has lost two stone in weight because she only eats once a day, and was forced to take her daughter’s birthday gift to Cash Converters to get money for food.
Captain Boris accused of being on ‘shore leave’ while cost-of-living crisis rages
Boris Johnson is facing criticism for going missing while the country grapples with a cost-of-living crisis.
Asda chairman Lord Rose criticised a ‘horrifying’ absence of fresh support, saying: ‘The captain of the ship is on shore leave – nobody is in charge at the moment.’
The Conservative peer questioned when an emergency budget will be brought forward as he warned that ‘inflation isn’t sitting there waiting for us’ as the cost-of-living crisis deepened.
Mr Johnson is holidaying in Greece with wife Carrie, soon after they went on honeymoon to Slovenia. They are expected to be based at Chequers rather than Downing Street for his remaining three weeks in office.
Lord Rose, a former chief at Marks & Spencer, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’ve got to have some action. The captain of the ship is on shore leave – nobody is in charge at the moment.’
He added: ‘Nothing is happening. We’re sitting here now, into the fourth month of the crisis, and we’re still waiting to see what action will be taken – it’s horrifying.’
The peer called for fresh targeted action to help ‘those who need it most’ as he warned the nation is ‘heading towards a recession’.
Twice she has ended up in hospital suffering with malnutrition, she said – even needing blood transfusions to replenish her depleted iron levels because she cannot afford fresh food.
Ms Thomson, who has a son, 14, and daughter, 11, said: ‘I hate waking up every morning and thinking “oh my God, not again”.
‘The cost of living is crazy now and I don’t know what I’m going to do. We have nothing. I honestly feel I’m going to have to resort to begging.
‘It’s worse now than ever before. I feel sick over seeing the new inflation rate.
‘Everything is more expensive every time I go in the shop and I can’t bear to look at the gas meter.
‘I do think about stealing but I can’t bear the thought of what would happen to my kids if I got arrested.’
Families across the UK are struggling to have enough money for food and basic bills, as well as rent – with the situation only set to get worse.
The average food bill is set to increase by £533 this year, a serious concern for many families who are already grappling with the choice between eating and heating this winter.
Spiraling gas prices are a result of several factors, and first rose sharply after the end of lockdowns around the world amid the coronavirus pandemic. The sharp rise in demand for gas was followed by a huge rise in costs too.
Around the world, but especially within Europe, this was made drastically worse by war in Ukraine. Since then Russian gas supplies into Europe have been severely slashed.
It has caused the gas price to spike to levels never seen before.
In a sign of how serious the crisis is becoming, new figures released this week showed the UK inflation rate is now at least 10.1 per cent, the first time it has hit double figures since 1982.
There are fears the winter will not only lead to increased pressure on NHS services which are already reaching crisis-point, but higher levels of homelessness and child poverty too.
Food in Parliament is run by two separate organisations, with a spokesperson telling the Mirror: ‘The House of Commons and House of Lords Catering Services take a number of measures to reduce the amount of food waste from our outlets and produce less food waste than the national average for the catering industry.
‘The Sustainable Restaurant Association has rated Parliament’s Catering Services as good practice organisations and were awarded three stars out of three as part of the environmental section in their Food Made Good Scheme.’
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