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A Tory bid to expose Labour “lies” backfired after bungling chiefs failed to realise how food banks work.

Conservative HQ were branded out-of-touch after their ‘ Labour lies unit’ wrongly claimed Labour had “inflated” the use of foodbanks.

The row erupted after Labour said the Trussell Trust charity had handed out 65million emergency meals over five years of cruel austerity.

Tory chiefs boasted “this is false” because the Trust only handed out 6.3million food parcels.

Yet the Tories got their basic maths wrong - because, as the charity confirmed today, each three-day parcel contains at least 10 meals.

(Image: Getty Images)

Labour shadow minister Andrew Gwynne said: “This response from the Tory Fake News Unit is beyond parody.

“It shows the Tories are so out of touch they don’t even know how food banks operate.”

The number of three-day food parcels dished out by the Trussell Trust soared to a record 1.58million in the year to March 2019.

(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie demanded the next government cut the five-week wait for Universal Credit .

She said: "We’re seeing more and more people being pushed to food banks than ever before.

“This General Election , all political parties must pledge to protect people from hunger by ensuring everyone has enough money for the basics.

"We want our next government to start working towards a future where no one needs a food bank."