CHILDREN are living in poverty because they refuse to put in a proper day’s work, Tory MPs have claimed.
As new figures revealed an increase in child poverty and a reduction in the number of children with part-time jobs, backbench Conservatives said it ‘did not take a genius to make the connection’.
Somerset MP Denys Finch-Hatton said: “I have my part-time job at Westminster and three company directorships which take up about two hours a month. So I am working part-time and yet I am not in poverty.
“Children have to realise that you don’t just get things for nothing because you’re a child. I’m not suggesting they all quit school and work on a building site. I’m suggesting they stay in school and work on a building site in the evenings and at weekends.
“Or shall we just give these part-time jobs to Polish and Bulgarian children?”
Sussex MP Martin Bishop added: “I am willing to pay a tech-savvy child to remove the hard drive from my computer as soon as possible.”