The obesity problem in Britain will not be solved unless fat people stop blaming others and exercise self-control, a former Conservative minister has said.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a former Tesco executive and a Conservative minister in four departments from 2014 to 2017, said fat people should stop blaming food manufacturers for their “short-comings” and “demonstrate self-control” over their diet.

The comments came in a Parliamentary debate when another Tory peer Baroness Mone of Mayfair warned against demonising poor families for the problem as she highlighted her own battle to lose weight.

Lady Neville-Rolfe, who as Lucy Neville-Rolfe was a senior executive in Tesco, said there was a “moral” case for fat people to exercise self control over their food consumption.

She told the House of Lords: “My moral point is that, whatever the scientific facts, obesity will not be tackled successfully unless those at risk can demonstrate self-control.

“It is no use blaming others, ​food manufacturers or the fears that prevent children walking to school, as I did every day from the age of five—it was quite a long way, for our own failings. The main fault, dear Brutus, lies not in others but in ourselves.

“As far as young people are concerned, we need to convince them that self-control is needed to avoid obesity—and for many other desirable outcomes.