The MP was writing in support of the Tories child benefit cap, which aimed to punish those on welfare for having more than two children.
Ben Bradley, Tory MP for Mansfield, wrote in 2012 that benefits claimants should have vasectomies to prevent us “drowning in a sea of unemployed wasters”.
In a post discovered by Buzzfeed and now deleted from his blog Bradley wrote:
“Families who have never worked a day in their lives having 4 or 5 kids and the rest of us having 1 or 2 means it’s not long before we’re drowning in a vast sea of unemployed wasters that we pay to keep! … Vasectomies are free.”
Bradley was writing in support of the Tory government’s welfare reform proposals, that aimed to set a cap on total benefits families could claim.
The cap was finally introduced by Theresa May last January, and it was even lower than the proposed amount: total household benefits are now limited to £23,000 a year in London and £20,000 elsewhere, disproportionately sanctioning larger households with more children.
Bradley’s comments are the logical conclusion of this nasty Tory policy, which essentially tells those on welfare: if you’re poor, don’t have children.
This view’s been aired many times over recent years. It was expressed, though worded more carefully than Ben Bradley’s comments, by then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2010. Hunt told Newsnight:
“The number of children that you have is a choice and what we’re saying is that if people are living on benefits then they make choices but they also have to have responsibility for those choices.”
When the mask slips however and the underlying view is fully expressed, the result is disturbing.
In 2008, for example, Tory councillor John Ward said those on benefits “breed for greed” and should be sterilised:
“There is an increasingly strong case for compulsory sterilisation of all those who have had a second child – or third, or whatever – while living off state benefits.”
“It would clearly take a lot of social pressures off all concerned, thus protecting the youngsters themselves to some degree, and remove the incentive to breed for greed, ie for more public subsidy.”
Only last week it was revealed that Toby Young (appointed to the Office for Students, now resigned) had attended a secret eugenics conference last year. Bradley’s comments are still more proof that beneath the spin, there lie some darkly regressive views in the Tory Party.
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7 Responses to “Ben Bradley’s comments on vasectomies are vile – and completely inline with Tory ideology”
Chris Kitcher
Just another Tory thico who mouths the words of those above him. He couldn’t even complete a degree in PE. Why can there not be a cesspit where creatures such as him can be disposed of?
On the positive side it demonstrates the dearth of intellect on the Tory side.
Jay ginn
Life might be better for parents (irrespective of employment status) and for their children if they planned for a small family. A quick look at the arithmetic would show that child benefit goes nowhere near covering the actual cost to parents of each child. A large family is also expensive in terms of parental, mainly the mother’s time.
But family planning through contraception or sterilisation of one or both parents on NHS has to be by choice. Punitive measures are not acceptable.
patrick newman
With 1.44M (may change tomorrow) unemployed and only 790,000 vacancies (ONS) it follows that many who are low or no skilled will take a long time before a job comes their way. It’s not their fault. Anybody who chooses to have a benefits lifestyle should be assessed for having mental issues – like ‘choosing’ to sleep rough! The nasty party has returned but this time no more nice guy stuff!
John
Remember: in 1974 Sir Keith Joseph spoke of the need to ‘extend birth control facilities’ to poor young women who were having too many children because he feared national ‘degeneration’. Joseph later became Mrs Thatcher’s Secretary of State for Education. The Conservatives have form on this issue which goes back to 1974 and actually extends further back through their history.
Jimmy glesga
I am not against women and men shaggin and having weans. This has always happened but nowadays the shaggers want someone else to pay for their momentarily ejaculation.
The left should be more responsible in promoting personal responsibility.