The benefit claimants who need a vasectomy, by Tories’ youth tsar
A RISING Tory star has apologised for suggesting benefit claimants with numerous children should consider having a vasectomy.
Ben Bradley, appointed as the party’s vice-chairman for youth last week, wrote in a 2012 blog that the country would drown ‘in a vast sea of unemployed wasters’ if welfare recipients had too many children.
His comments were in support of Iain Duncan Smith’s plans – now implemented – to cap the amount families can receive in handouts.
Mr Bradley, 28, who was elected as MP for Mansfield last June, said it was wrong that large families could earn far more than the minimum wage on benefits.
He said the number of children a family had was their choice, adding: ‘Vasectomies are free.’
Last night, after the Buzzfeed website revealed the posts, Mr Bradley – who was promoted by Theresa May in last week’s reshuffle and tasked with making the party more palatable to younger people – deleted them and apologised.
The benefit cap was eventually implemented by Mr Duncan Smith at £20,000 a year or £23,000 for those in London.
In 2012, Mr Bradley said: ‘It’s horrendous that there are families out there that can make vastly more than the minimum wage (or in some cases more than a bloody good wage) just because they have ten kids.
‘Sorry, but how many children you have is a choice. If you can’t afford them, stop having them! Vasectomies are free.’
The blog post went on: ‘People have to take responsibility for their own lives, and if they are struggling but working hard to help themselves, then they should get help. But if they choose to have ten kids they should take responsibility for that choice and look after them, not expect everyone else to foot the bill!
‘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 was headlined ‘Give us the benefits “cap” – before we all drown!’ and tagged with keywords including ‘chavs’ and ‘wasters’.
Before he became an MP, Mr Bradley worked as an office manager and landscape gardener. Last night he said: ‘I apologise for these posts. My time in politics has allowed me to mature and I now realise that this language is not appropriate.
‘I am obviously sorry for any offence caused. It was a long time ago, I was very young. My time in politics since has made me realise the need to be careful with my language. I wrote it a long time ago when I was young and not really thinking it through.’
Cat Smith, Labour’s spokesman for voter engagement and youth affairs, said: ‘These comments expose 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.’
Vasectomies are available on the NHS, although the number of men choosing to undergo the procedure has fallen by two thirds in ten years. Private vasectomies cost up to £500.
The procedure is deemed to be a safe and effective form of contraception but family planning experts say they are being increasingly shunned by men who view them as an ‘irreversible’ lifestyle choice. The most recent figures show that just 10,880 vasectomies were performed in 2015/16, down from 29,344 in 2005/06.
‘Drowning in a sea of wasters’