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Boris Johnson has admitted it is "wrong" that poor Brits have relied on millions of food bank meals under the Tories.

The Tory leader appeared to remark on nine years of Conservative rule as he accepted "clearly it is wrong" that people rely on emergency food handouts.

The Trussell Trust charity has handed out 65million emergency meals over five years - with a massive rise under the Tories.

Benefit delays and benefit changes are the second- and third-most common reasons for people being referred to a food bank.

With the Tories rolling out the controversial Universal Credit , benefit delays featured in 20% of all cases while changes were in 17%.

Interviewed as he visited Salisbury, the home of the Trust's head office, the Prime Minister said he hoped food bank use will reduce if he wins the election - despite the Tories having power since 2010.

(Image: PA)

He said: "We need to be tackling it in every possible way. We want to help people with the cost of living and it's an absolute crusade for me.

"When I was running London we did an awful lot to support and help food banks and to help the poorest and needy.

"I applaud everybody who gets involved with running food banks but clearly it is wrong that people should be dependent on them."

He added: "That's why we're lifting the living wage by the biggest ever amount, up to £10.50 an hour, reducing the age threshold down to 21 year-olds, cutting national insurance for everybody will make a difference.

(Image: Western Daily Press)

"It is imperative in my view that the next government, if I'm lucky enough to be leading it, tackles the cost of living for everybody in this country, that's what we're going to do."

The Trussell Trust last month said it had recorded its busiest ever six-month period - with more than a third of its emergency parcels going to children.

The charity also said more people than ever before are being forced to go to food banks, with more than 820,000 emergency food parcels given out in the past six months.

Tory ministers have spent years trying to deny any link between food banks and the benefit system.

Theresa May said in April 2017 there were “many complex reasons” why people used food banks.

Esther McVey previously tried to blame the explosion on Labour , who she said “refused” to let Jobcentres signpost people to them before 2010.

A junior DWP minister, Alok Sharma, prompted shouts of “pathetic” as he insisted the rise could not be attributed to a single reason.

Former Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd admitted the "main issue" driving people to food banks "could have been the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough."

But it is understood her comments led to a private backlash from 10 Downing Street under Theresa May's leadership.