Sir Keir Starmer. Photo: Reuters

Tory leader: 'Lunch is for wimps'

· Otago Daily Times Online News
Kemi Badenoch. Photo: Getty Images

Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the main opposition party spar almost daily on everything from immigration, taxation to spending, but on Thursday, the two battled over a new subject - whether sandwiches make a good lunch.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch raised the subject in an interview with the right-leaning weekly magazine, The Spectator, by questioning not only whether sandwiches made an adequate lunch but also whether people should take lunch breaks.

"What's a lunch break? Lunch is for wimps. I have food brought in and I work and eat at the same time. There's no time ... Sometimes I will get a steak," she told The Spectator.

"I'm not a sandwich person. I don't think sandwiches are a real food, it's what you have for breakfast. I will not touch bread if it's moist."

In response, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he often enjoyed a tuna sandwich and occasionally a cheese toasted sandwich.

"I think he was surprised to hear the leader of the opposition has a steak brought in for lunch, but I think the Prime Minister is quite happy with a sandwich lunch," he told reporters.

"It's a great British institution, I believe it brings in 8 billion pounds to the UK economy."