Ben Bradley MP apologises for saying unemployed people should have vasectomies

Ben Bradley, who was promoted to vice chairman for youth in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, has been condemned by Labour, with one MP calling his comments “despicable”.

Mr Bradley wrote in support of the benefits cap and said people on welfare should stop having children if they could not afford them.

‘Vasectomies are free’

“Sorry but how many children you have is a choice; if you can’t afford them, stop having them! Vasectomies are free,” it read.

He said: “Families who have never worked a day in their lives having four or five kids and the rest of us having one or two means it’s not long before we’re drowning in a vast sea of unemployed wasters that we pay to keep!”

“Iain Duncan Smith’s cap proposal is spot on!”

The post, which Mr Bradley wrote on his personal blog consbradders32 in 2012, was deleted after it was reported by BuzzFeed News.

Mr Bradley, widely tipped as a rising star in the Conservatives who has spoken about wanting to change the party’s image problem, apologised for his comments.

‘Language not appropriate’

“My time in politics has allowed me to mature and I now realise that this language is not appropriate,” he said.

The politician was condemned by Labour’s Cat Smith, the shadow minister for youth affairs, who said the comments were “repulsive” and exposed “the Tories’ disgraceful attitude to unemployed people”.

“That they come from a man Theresa May chose as a vice chair of her party speaks volumes. The nasty party is alive and well,” she said.

Debbie Abrahams, the shadow secretary for work and pensions, said Mr Bradley’s remarks were “shocking, shameful, despicable”.

Mr Bradley was elected as the MP for Mansfield in 2017, making him the first Tory to win the seat since it was created 132 years ago.