A Tory MP has been blasted for saying poor people are the “fattest” and need to be taught how to shop more healthily.

Sir Desmond Swayne said families on benefits who are forced to turn to foodbanks should learn to do food shopping “more cost effectively”.

Writing in a local newspaper he argued foodbanks are an “important contribution” to the welfare system.

But checks should be made to see how families “actually spend” their benefits, the MP for New Forest West, in Hampshire added.

The former aide to ex-PM David Cameron said: “The shocking statistic is one in five of our children is obese by the time they leave primary school and this disproportionately affects those children in the lowest household incomes.

(Image: PA)

"To put it bluntly (and in terms that elicited shouts of protest at the hustings): the poorest are amongst the fattest.

“The conclusion I draw is their families need, in addition to welfare payments, help with how to shop more cost effectively and healthily.”

Tonight, Lib Dem Cllr Jack Davies, of New Forest District Council, said: “It is the policies of his Government which have made life so much harder for working-class people across the country.

“It is clear from his comments this Conservative MP does not have a clue.”

The Trussell Trust foodbank charity said April to September was the busiest six-month period on record.