‘If you can’t afford food, stop having so many children,’ says Tory council chief after report on poverty in his borough
- Sixty-three per cent of children in the Palfrey district of Walsall live in poverty
- Cllr Mike Bird of Walsall claimed it was a ‘cultural issue’ and is it ‘their choice’
- Many families choose to have four or five children, according to Mr Bird
Families are suffering from food poverty because they are having more children than they can afford to raise, according to a Tory council leader.
Mike Bird, of the Conservative-run authority in Walsall, was referring to a report which showed that 63 per cent of children in the Palfrey district of Walsall live in poverty.
He said: ‘There is a cultural issue. Many people who live in Palfrey… have four or five children at a time. And that is their choice. Whereas in other parts of the borough, they will limit their children to one or two.
‘The crux of that is you can only have what you can afford. The root cause of this on many occasions is that the family is too big.’
Sixty-three per cent of children live in poverty in the Palfrey district of Walsall (file image), in the Midlands. The local council is ranked as the 26th-worst performing area for child poverty out of 326 local authorities in England in 2018
His comments came after Labour members called on the council to introduce food collection points in its buildings, as well as encouraging supermarkets to donate unsold food to organisations to distribute to the needy.
An amended motion put forward by the Conservative administration – which pledged to set up a task force to look at reducing food poverty in Walsall – was agreed by all parties.
Walsall council ranked as the 26th-worst performing area for child poverty out of 326 local authorities in England in 2018.
Cllr Mike Bird of Walsall (pictured left) has clashed with Birmingham Labour MP Liam Byrne (pictured right) about his comments on his local area’s poverty figures
Figures show that 26 per cent of neighbourhoods in Walsall are among the most deprived 10 per cent in the country. Former Labour group leader Sean Coughlan, who is one of five children himself, said Mr Bird’s comments were ‘appalling’.
He added: ‘In this day and age we should not have to rely on food banks to support the needy.
‘Mr Bird needs to understand that poverty is often not the individual’s fault.’
Nearly half of neighbourhoods in Walsall (file image) are among the most deprived 10 per cent in the country, according to figures
Birmingham Labour MP Liam Byrne said Mr Bird’s view was ‘insensitive’ and called on him to apologise. The MP for Hodge Hill added: ‘People are turning to food banks because of poverty pay, not because of how many children they have. This is incredibly insensitive and just wrong.’
But Mr Bird said an apology wasn’t necessary, adding: ‘It is a responsible idea to try to limit the size of your family to your means.
‘I was not having a go at any particular section of the borough. There are schools in affluent areas here which have vacancies, and yet there are schools in areas where there are larger families, such as Palfrey, where demand is greater. That greater demand also correlates with the demand placed on food banks.’
There are nine food banks in Walsall. Garry Lemon, of the Trussell Trust, which operates one of them, said: ‘No one in the UK should need a food bank’s help, no matter what size your family is.’