…Sparking debate over ‘British institution’
The leader of Britain’s Conservative Party called sandwiches “not a real food” and said she “will not touch bread if it’s moist” in an interview published Thursday — sparking a griddle-hot debate in a country obsessed with “toasties.”
Kemi Badenoch, who was elected head of the UK opposition party last month, claimed the bread-and-filling staple doesn’t cut the mustard when asked by Spectator magazine what she usually eats for lunch.
“What’s a lunch break? Lunch is for wimps,” she fired back. “I have food brought in and I work and eat at the same time. There’s no time … Sometimes I will get a steak.”
“I’m not a sandwich person, don’t think sandwiches are a real food, it’s what you have for breakfast,” she added. “I will not touch bread if it’s moist.”
But the pol’s bread-bashing comments left her in a pickle when rival party member, Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused her of talking down a “Great British institution.”
In a country that loves its “toasties” grilled bread flanking a filling of nearly anything, almost as much as tea, Starmer is a loyal sandwich eater, his spokesperson told the magazine.
“I think he was surprised to hear that the leader of the opposition has a steak brought in for lunch. The prime minister is quite happy with a sandwich lunch,” the rep said.
His team called sandwiches a “great British institution” and cited figures from the British Sandwich Association suggesting the grub rakes in the equivalent of $10 billion a year in the UK’s economy.
“He enjoys a tuna sandwich and occasionally a cheese toastie,” the spokesperson told Politico Thursday.
