Tory council chief sparks outrage with 'poor people' steak dinner joke
Norfolk County Council leader Kay Mason Billig has defended the Facebook post - in which she took a picture of a tomahawk steak - claiming it was a "private joke"
A Tory council chief is facing calls to quit after posting a pic of a tomahawk steak with the caption: "Wonder what all the poor people are doing?"
Norfolk County Council leader Kay Mason Billig posted the photograph of her meal with a £21 bottle of Italian red wine, potatoes in peppercorn sauce and salad to her Facebook friends. But the caption sparked a furious reaction, with tens of thousands of people in Norfolk forced to rely on food banks and her own council runs an £11.8m fund to help people struggling to afford to eat.
Mrs Mason Billig, who is entitled to more than £51,000 in allowances from County Hall each year, told the EDP website the sharing of the post beyond her friends was a "personal attack" and a private joke had been misunderstood.
Mrs Mason Billig, who lives in Chedgrave, near Loddon, with her husband Michael, the former director of Procastle Properties, said: "My husband and I have sometimes called ourselves 'the poor people'.
"It's a private joke as we live fairly modestly, so when we have a treat, we will sometimes post about it. This is asking if friends wonder what we (the poor people) are doing. It's not intended to be about anyone else and is no reflection on people who are less well off than ourselves.
"It's a bad state of affairs when I can't even joke about myself without it being twisted into something it isn't. I am deeply disappointed that someone has decided to be this horrible when they must certainly know it's actually self deprecation. What a sad world we live in."
But Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at County Hall, said: "People like to have council leaders who show they are in touch, care about the plight of others and show humility and pride in the public positions they hold. This is a nauseating example of the exact opposite. I find nothing amusing here."
And the EDP reported one senior Norfolk Conservative said they thought Mrs Mason Billig, who is also a South Norfolk district councillor, should quit. They said: "I think she should resign. We are entitled to a private life and to let our hair down, but I don't think anybody should degrade those less well off than others.
"Under Conservative party guidance, there's a case that she has brought the party into disrepute and the party should be carrying out an investigation. This falls well below the Nolan Principles for Public Life.'
Another Tory said: "Most politicians are wise to avoid social media. It's hard to win votes, but easy to lose them."
Mrs Mason Billig, who has been County Hall leader since May 2023, was criticised earlier this week for comments made during a debate over Norfolk County Council's vision for a single council for when all eight of the county's councils are abolished and new ones created.
She said children could die should plans to abolish all eight Norfolk councils and create new ones result in two or three different councils delivering social services.
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