Carol Vorderman was called "grim" by a Government minister after a spat on Twitter. The former Countdown star has become known for sharing her views on the latest Westminster happenings and scandals in recent times, and has found herself in numerous arguments as a result.
The subject of Carol's latest rant is Minister for Defence People and Veterans Johnny Mercer MP, who the Clifton resident claimed was "wrong" for saying that food bank use by military personnel is "a personal decision". Having been open about her impoverished upbringing over the years, Carol, 62, reflected on her own childhood in a tweet, writing: "I grew up in poverty, mum had five jobs, nearly killed her. It was NOT a choice."
Carol also alleged that Mercer, 41, and his wife, Felicity Cornelius-Mercer, 43, who works in his office, had a "total taxpayers' salary of approx £120,000" with a "total cost to taxpayer of £373,663". Carol, BristolLive reports, was later left in disbelief when Mercer himself replied to her scathing tweet.
"You are grim," Mercer - who is MP for Plymouth Moor View, replied - with a vomiting emoji. Carol later screenshotted his response, questioning whether it was really the MP that sent it.
"Finished work, back online only to find Minister @JohnnyMercerUK has replied to my tweet about his comments re military personnel going to foodbanks as 'making a "personal decision' with 'You are grim'," Carol tweeted. "Has he been hacked? Or is this now a new low Tory govt bar?"
Justifying his earlier response to Carol, Mercer hit back: "No. You're just a deeply unpleasant person."
Cornelius-Mercer also waded in, telling Carol: "Always count on @JohnnyMercerUK to tell it to you straight. You really do seem like a nasty person."
Cornelius-Mercer also shared an article from the Telegraph regarding the situation, scathingly adding: "And they call politicians narcissistic; @carolvorders is another level and playing the public for fools. Don’t fall for blanket hatred of any persuasion."
This morning, July 5, Carol compared the couple to Neil and Christine Hamilton. "The Neil and Christine Hamilton of today?" she questioned in a tweet.
"@JohnnyMercerUK and his wife. He said yday military personnel don't need to go to foodbanks. He earns over £110k as a Minister & pays her in his office £35-40k She's paid more than Army officer & TWICE more than young soldier."
The Twitter feud came after Mercer claimed during an interview with Sky News that it was "not correct" to say that people, including Armed Forces personnel and veterans, are being "forced" to use food banks amid the cost of living crisis. The former British Army captain said: "These are personal decisions around how people are budgeting every month."#
"I don't want to see anyone using food banks, of course I don't. But we're in an extremely difficult time around cost of living.
"I'll always advocate for service personnel to get paid more, I'd be mad not to. But it has to be within the constraints of a budget."
