Rishi Sunak boasts he has ‘whole range of breads’ in his house when quizzed about surging prices

The chancellor has faced backlash following his ‘out of touch’ remarks

Rishi Sunak faced questions on surging prices (PA Media)

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said his family has a “whole range of breads” at home as he was quizzed on surging bills bringing Britain’s worst fall in living standards since the 1950s.

Mr Sunak faced questions this morning over his Spring Statement, which charities have warned has offered little help for hundreds of thousands of people who will sink into poverty amid the record squeeze on incomes.

The chancellor was asked by BBC Breakfast which food he noticed was rising in price in the supermarket as inflation looks set to near 9 per cent this year.

When the presenter said for her it was crisps, he laughed, and replied: “It’s probably, I think bread, probably is the thing. The one we buy I’m sure is now about £1.20 and it was about £1, from memory.”

Asked what kind of bread by journalist Nina Warhurst, he replied: “It’s a Hovis kind of seeded thing.

“We have a whole range of different - we all have different breads in my house, a degree of healthiness between my wife, myself and my kids.”

The BBC journalist replied that she was also partial to a seeded loaf.

Mr Sunak’s remarks were met with backlash online as MPs and social media users accused the chancellor of being out of touch.

Neil Coyle, Labour MP for Bermondsey said: “Excruciatingly cringeworthy interview with this out of touch Tory Chancellor who says bread prices have risen 20% and also that it’s now so expensive his family can only afford one loaf each...

“We’ll have to all eat cake obvs.”

Sustainability advisor Brendan May quipped: “Jesus fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread but in the Sunak household it’s 5,000 loaves of bread for 4 people, which is about the best metaphor you can find for Tory policies.”

Journalist Ross Gregory added: “Rishi Sunak’s mask slipping today. As it does eventually with all these narcissistic Tories. No danger a multi-millionaire with a wife richer than the Queen giving two s**** about how ordinary folk put bread on the table, fuel in their car or heat their home.”

Justin Madders, shadow employment rights secretary added: “£1.20 for a loaf of seeded bread? Not sure he’s quite up to speed with what inflation is doing to the shopping basket.”

The chancellor stated that he usually buys a Hovis seeded bread (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Shadow food secretary Jim McMahon said: “Maybe if the Chancellor was struggling to afford a single loaf of bread like so many families are, he would have offered support to families yesterday.

“Instead it appears the 'continental breakfast' Chancellor doesn't understand the Tory cost of living crisis he's presiding over.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said, however, that helping the country's poorest people is his “priority”.

Rishi Sunak faces backlash after his spring statement (AFP via Getty Images)

Put to him that he did not “create a buffer for the people who need it most” in his spring statement, he told BBC Breakfast: “So we did, and actually because they are our priority we started with them, and we did that in October in my Budget then.

“And what we did then was make the operation of Universal Credit more generous, we cut something called the taper rate, the tax rate in Universal Credit... you act in advance of things happening where you can.”

The chancellor was also grilled about reports of his family’s links to Russia which has been hit by sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Mr Sunak was quizzed about his wife’s stake in Infosys - an Indian IT company founded by her billionaire entrepreneur father which has operations in Moscow and reported links to a large Russian bank.

The chancellor said: “I’m an elected politician and I’m here to talk to you about what I’m responsible for. My wife is not.”