'Crack den' tweets 'taken out of context', MP says

A Conservative MP has defended his Twitter comments on free school meals after Labour accused him of "stigmatising working class families".

Commenting on a school in Mansfield, Ben Bradley said that "one kid lives in a crack den, another in a brothel". Another Twitter user wrote back that "£20 cash direct to a crack den and a brothel sounds like the way forward with this one", to which Mr Bradley replied: "That's what FSM vouchers in the summer effectively did..."

Labour called for him to apologise, with deputy leader Angela Rayner saying: "Notwithstanding the fact that the vouchers in summer could only be used to purchase food, this stigmatisation of working class families is disgraceful and disgusting."

Mr Bradley told BBC Breakfast's Naga Munchetty his tweet, which has since been deleted, had been "totally taken out of context" – and that the government's stance on free school means has been "falsely characterised."

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