Steak or a sandwich for lunch? Britain’s PM, opposition leader at odds

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 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 U.K. economy.”