A former Tory cabinet minister today sparked anger after urging people hit by Budget cuts to wear more clothes, turn down the thermostat and eat more vegetables.
John Redwood, MP for Wokingham, also suggested victims of spending cuts could take holidays in England and draw money out of their savings to tide them through.
Mr Redwood, 59, wrote on his blog: 'If you are on a low income then of course cutting spending is difficult or impossible.
'If you are living a middle-class lifestyle and your income goes down by 10 per cent you have plenty of options.
'You can holiday nearer home and cut out the foreign trip. You can eat at home more than in restaurants. You can trade down for a cheaper car.
He added: 'You can buy more of the value items at the supermarket and put more vegetarian dishes into menus.
'You can discover home entertainment to keep the leisure bill down. You can turn down the thermostat a little and put on a jumper'.
Mr Redwood appeal echoed arch-Thatcherite Norman Tebbit's response to a young Tory who wondered whether riots in 1981 were the result of unemployment.
He said: 'I grew up in the '30s with an unemployed father. He didn't riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking 'til he found it'.
Unison official Dave Prentis said: 'It is easy to pontificate when it's not you making the sacrifices or having to tell your children they won't have much of a holiday this year - let alone a decent meal.
'Why doesn't he tell the city slickers who got the country into this mess to cut back on their massive salaries and give back some of the money they owe this country?'
