Cameron urged to block Lords entry for Tory in 'breeding' row

Howard Flight apologised yesterday for saying that removing child benefit from top rate tax payers would leave them "discouraged from breeding", while benefit claimants would have "every incentive".

His comments angered opposition politicians and trade unions who said his views showed the Tory party is out of touch with the country.

Earlier in the day the Prime Minister urged Mr Flight to apologise as he distanced himself from the new peer's remarks. When asked if he would seek to block Mr Flight taking up his seat at the House of Lords, Mr Cameron said: "I don't agree with what he said and I am sure he will want to apologise for what he said. And I'm sure we can leave it at that."

After Mr Flight's apology a Downing Street spokesman said it brought the matter to an end.

But the controversy follows the resignation of Tory peer Lord Young as Mr Cameron's enterprise tsar last week after he claimed most people had "never had it so good" during the "so-called recession."

The Labour MP for Bassetlaw, John Mann, said: "What this underlines is this tiny strata of society that is the Tory Party, that is wholly out of touch with the rest of the country."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Howard Flight has shown himself to be an insensitive throwback to the worst of 1980s politics within days of being made a peer by the Prime Minister.

"This is exactly the kind of remark that leads to political parties being thought of as nasty, and shows just how shockingly out of touch with the lives of ordinary low and middle-income people some supporters of this Government can be."