Update: Loughton has belatedly apologised, while still bizarrely claiming that his comments were misrepresented by the media.
I will of course apologise to Sarah for the comments that have been reported and were certainly not intended or indeed said in that way
— Tim Loughton MP (@timloughton) September 16, 2013
Conservative MP Tim Loughton’s repugnant suggestion that Sarah Teather was a poor families minister because she failed to “produce” one of her own has rightly been greeted with outrage. The Telegraph reports that the former Tory education minister told last weekend’s Conservative Renewal conference:
The person who was actually in charge of family policy amongst the ministerial team at the DfE was Sarah Teather. Which was a bit difficult because she doesn’t really believe in family. She certainly didn’t produce one of her own. So it became a bit of a family-free zone. I think that is a huge disappointment.
But responding to criticism on Twitter, Loughton has refused to apologise, feigning disbelief at the anger he has attracted.
Blimey-what am I being panned for now? My criticism was lack of LibDem family policy not of Sarah Teather personally who I always respected
— Tim Loughton MP (@timloughton) September 16, 2013
Unbelievably, he went on to blame “some journo” for “distorting my comments”.
If the Tories want this avoid becoming an even more toxic story, they would be wise to bring Loughton to heel now.
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