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Pressure is mounting on Ben Bradley to apologize for a Twitter tirade in which the Conservative MP was accused of linking free school meals to “crack clubs” and “brothels.”
Bradley, who this week voted against extending free school meals for underprivileged children during the holidays until Easter 2021, said the post since deleted had been taken out of context.
In it, he wrote: “In a school in Mansfield, 75% of the children have a social worker, 25% of the parents are illiterate. His farm is the center of crime in the area.
“One child lives in a crack den, another in a brothel. These are the children who most need our help, extending FSM does not reach these children “.
Bradley then responded to a tweet in which another user said “£ 20 cash straight to a crack den and brothel really does sound like a way to go with this one”, writing: “That’s what FSM vouchers effectively did in summer …”
Deputy Labor Leader Angela Rayner said: “Even though summer vouchers could only be used to buy food, this stigmatization of working class families is shameful and disgusting.”
Shadow Children Minister Tulip Siddiq has written to Conservative Party Co-Chair Amanda Milling, saying: “I am sure you will want to make it clear that this kind of gross stigmatization of children from poorer families is deeply damaging. and stay away from misleading and disturbing comments from Mr. Bradley.
“In the meantime, I respectfully request an apology from Mr. Bradley to the millions of children from low-income households who benefit from free support for school meals.”
Bradley said his controversial tweet had been “totally taken out of context.” He told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: “I was just pointing out that there are kids living in really chaotic situations, really difficult lives, where they are actually given an unrestricted voucher to spend on what is not useful.
“What I mean is that we should wrap our arms as a society around those families. That is why the government has given that money to the local government because they are in the best position to work with social services, work with schools to be able to find those families, target them, help them in a more comprehensive way than the Food coupons “.
A vote, backed by Labor, to offer free school meals to children during the midterm was defeated by 322 votes to 261 on Wednesday.
Bradley, who became the MP for former Labor Mansfield in 2017, posted consecutive tweets on Friday defending his position on the motion.
The MP, who drew criticism in 2018 for a blog post discovered in 2012 suggesting that unemployed “wasters” should undergo vasectomies to prevent them from having multiple children, has also faced Marcus Rashford, the England forward and Manchester that launched the WSF. Bell.
Bradley, who said he voted “to direct funding more closely to those most in need,” invited Rashford to visit “one of the most disadvantaged schools in the country” in his constituency to discuss the idea with its principal.
Schools in the area have since rejected his comments. St Edmund’s C of E Elementary School in Mansfield Woodhouse wrote a passionate message to parents on Facebook.
The post read: “We know the truth about families who qualify for free school meals and it is nothing like what you suggest. I strongly suggest that you also let him know the truth. After all, he is their representative in the parliament of our country ”.
In turn, Bradley asked the school to remove “this partisan nonsense,” insisting that an attached screenshot of his tweets “completely misleads and misrepresents the context of the conversation.”
Selaine Saxby, the Conservative MP from North Devon, also sparked anger over comments she made about local businesses giving away food.
A screenshot of a Facebook post in their name, since it was removed, read: “I am delighted that our local businesses have recovered so much after closing that they can give away food and I hope they do not seek further support from the government.”
He later said that his comments had been taken out of context. “Of course, I deeply regret any offense that may have been caused,” he said.
