A TIN-EARED Tory minister was blasted yesterday for saying shoppers should buy value brands to combat soaring living costs.
George Eustice’s tip to avoid pricier brand names was dismissed as “obvious and patronising”.
Critics dismissed the wealthy Environment Secretary as “woefully out of touch”.
Lib Dem Wendy Chamberlain called Mr Eustice “clueless” and said he was living in a parallel universe.
She added: “He’s totally missed the point. Hard-up Brits have bought own brand foods for years. The problem now is that money is so tight they can’t afford to buy, full stop.”
Mr Eustice had told Sky News: “Generally speaking, what people find is by going for some of the value brands [or supermarket own-brand products] they can actually contain and manage their household budget.”
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Labour said the comments came from Tory ministers who had no solution to the cost of living crisis.
Pat McFadden, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, hit out: “It’s time for the Government to get real help to people rather than comments that expose how little they understand about the real struggles people are facing to pay bills.”
Families face their costs spiralling by hundreds of pounds with inflation up by nine per cent.
PM Boris Johnson admitted yesterday that the country was going through a “tough patch” due to rising prices.
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But he said the country was in a much better position than in other economic crises, and insisted he wanted to “help people in any way we can through aftershocks of Covid”.
Ministers have dished out a £150 council tax refund and £200 energy loan.
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