Tory MP apologises for suggesting free sterilisation for unemployed
Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Youth is ‘textbook example of how bloggers should think twice’
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
A Tory MP is in hot water after old blog posts were unearthed in which he suggested sterilising the unemployed and declared that public sector workers “don’t know they’re born”.
Ben Bradley, 28, appointed Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Youth last week, “is turning into a textbook example of how provocative bloggers should think twice before venturing on a career in politics - or at least work out how to erase their internet history”, says The Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow.
Bradley, 28, apologised today over a 2012 blog entry, uncovered by BuzzFeed News, in which he suggests the unemployed should have vasectomies rather than father children they could not afford.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Vasectomies are free,” he 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!”
In a statement apologising for the blog post, which has been deleted, Bradley said: “My time in politics has allowed me to mature and I now realise that this language is not appropriate.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The world’s most romantic hotelsThe Week Recommends Treetop hideaways, secluded villas and a woodland cabin – perfect settings for Valentine’s Day
-
Democrats push for ICE accountabilityFeature U.S. citizens shot and violently detained by immigration agents testify at Capitol Hill hearing
-
The price of sporting gloryFeature The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off this week. Will Italy regret playing host?
-
The Mandelson files: Labour Svengali’s parting gift to StarmerThe Explainer Texts and emails about Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador could fuel biggest political scandal ‘for a generation’
-
‘Being a “hot” country does not make you a good country’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Three consequences from the Jenrick defectionThe Explainer Both Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage may claim victory, but Jenrick’s move has ‘all-but ended the chances of any deal to unite the British right’
-
The high street: Britain’s next political battleground?In the Spotlight Mass closure of shops and influx of organised crime are fuelling voter anger, and offer an opening for Reform UK
-
The MAGA civil war takes center stage at the Turning Point USA conferenceIN THE SPOTLIGHT ‘Americafest 2025’ was a who’s who of right-wing heavyweights eager to settle scores and lay claim to the future of MAGA
-
Is a Reform-Tory pact becoming more likely?Today’s Big Question Nigel Farage’s party is ahead in the polls but still falls well short of a Commons majority, while Conservatives are still losing MPs to Reform
-
What does the fall in net migration mean for the UK?Today’s Big Question With Labour and the Tories trying to ‘claim credit’ for lower figures, the ‘underlying picture is far less clear-cut’
-
Five takeaways from Plaid Cymru’s historic Caerphilly by-election winThe Explainer The ‘big beasts’ were ‘humbled’ but there was disappointment for second-placed Reform too