IT is hard to imagine a more patronising comment than was trotted out today by Conservative peer, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington, at the launch of a cross-party report highlighting the alarming rise in food banks in Britain.

“Poor people don’t know how to cook,” she declared before revealing that her breakfast had consisted of a bowl of porridge rather than a more expensive, but less nutritious, serving of sugary cereal.

To be fair to the baroness, she later added a large slice of humble pie to her porridge when she apologised for her “stupid” remark and accepted that her words had been badly chosen.

Nevertheless, it gives a disturbing insight into the peer’s instinctive attitude towards the poor.

Instead of appreciating that deep-rooted poverty is the fundamental reason for the growth in demand for foodbanks, it is somehow seen as the fault of those poor people for failing to pass on cookery skills or to sit up and take notice during domestic science lessons.

What is perhaps even more enlightening is the fact that the Department of Work and Pensions failed to even turn up to the launch of the report by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

A prolonged period of austerity has been the signature policy of the present Coalition Government, and there is evidence that the unflinching commitment to balancing the books has aided economic growth.

The big question is whether enough has been done to protect the most vulnerable members of society from the impact of that incessant squeeze on public spending.

The fact that an increasing number of people are having to rely on foodbanks as 2014 draws to a close is shocking.

And it points to a lack of understanding – and care – about the social consequences of the age of austerity.