Tory MP Ben Bradley keeps reshuffle job after vasectomies remarks

A Tory MP who suggested unemployed people should have vasectomies will keep his new job, sources at Number 10 have said.

Ben Bradley, 28, who is the MP for Mansfield, was promoted in Theresa May’s reshuffle to become the party’s vice chairman for youth.

The Tory MP hit headlines this week when it emerged he had written a blog post in support of the benefits cap which said it would not be long “before we’re drowning in a vast sea of unemployed wasters”.

He also said people on welfare should stop having children and undergo vasectomies.

Mr Bradley will hang on to the job after apologising for the comments, it emerged on Wednesday.

A No 10 source said: "Mr Bradley has apologised for those comments. The PM thinks it is right that he did so.

"I think he was 22 at the time he made them and has, himself, said he believes his work and the start of his career in politics has demonstrated to him why those views are wrong."

Asked if he would keep his job, the source replied: "Yes."

After the post on the personal blog, consbradders32, was highlighted by BuzzFeed News, it was deleted.

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

"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!"

Mr Bradley said he had matured since posting the blog in 2012 and was sorry for the comments.

"I apologise for these posts. My time in politics has allowed me to mature and I now realise that this language is not appropriate," he said.

Labour, which recently suspended MP Jared O'Mara following offensive blog posts, refused to say if Mr Bradley should be sacked.

A spokesman for leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Those remarks are clearly shocking and reprehensible and reflect the nature of a lot of Tory party thinking."

Additional reporting by Press Association.