Out of touch? Check. Rampant disregard for public opinion? Check. Sir Nicholas Winterton, the soon-to-retire Tory MP for Macclesfield, brought them all out this morning.
Hot from an interview with Total Politics magazine, where he took issue with new rules that will stop MPs from travelling first class, he told BBC Radio 5 Live this morning that those who travel standard class are “a totally different type of people”, with a “different outlook on life”.
Talk about digging yourself a hole. He had already caused a stir when he told Total Politics that the move would put MPs “below local councillors and officers of local government”.
CCHQ had issued a rebuttal by 11.45am (pretty impressive, considering his appearance on 5 Live was between 10am and 11am):
These are the out-of-touch views of a soon-to-retire backbench MP. They do not in any way represent the view of David Cameron and the Conservative Party and should be treated as such.
Let’s hope all those “different types” of voters take that on board.
Follow the New Statesman team on Twitter.
Content from our partners
Related
