Mrs Thatcher's food store to beat inflation

Mrs Thatcher, Conservative spokesman on economic affairs, is beating inflation in food prices by stocking up with tins of ham, tongue and sardines. In a taped interview to be published tomorrow in Pre-Retirement Choice, Mrs Thatcher says she has been doing it for some time.

“People tend to think of storage these days in terms of deep freezing, but fresh meat won't keep in a deep freeze for more than a year,” she said.

“Tinned food on the other hand will keep for five, 10 and 15 years. What you collect are the expensive proteins: ham, tongue, salmon, mackerel, sardines.”

Mrs Thatcher was asked for practical advice for people approaching retirement age and worried about the pace of inflation. She replied that she understood their fears because her own husband was approaching retirement age.

Mrs Thatcher told me last night that her “store” of tinned foods occupied one large shelf. She estimated that she had between two and five tins each of salmon and tinned meats, and six each of jams, honey and fruits.