Tag Archives: Chris Steward

A Tory councillor who slammed food banks as an unnecessary indulgence which giving the poor “more money to spend on alcohol” works as a stockbroker, it has emerged. Chris Steward ranted on Twitter:

“There is certainly no need for food banks; no-one in the UK is starving and I think food banks insult the one billion in the world that go to bed hungry every day.”

Apparently, food banks merely facilitate the consumption of fags ‘n’ booze:

“The fact some give food to food banks, merely enables people who can’t budget … or don’t want to, to have more money to spend on alcohol, cigarettes etc.”

According to the York City Council register of members’ interests, Steward works for Redmayne Bentley Stockbrokers — surely a safe vantage point from which to criticise those unable to make ends meet.

A record number of people are using food banks set up by the Trussell Trust, which was the target of Steward’s foul rant. A Trust source told reporters that service users are far from his caricature of feckless scroungers:

“They’re not necessarily people who are welfare dependent. They’re working families but can’t afford to buy their way out of hard times.”

There is one York councillor who certainly doesn’t look as though he needs their assistance.