Conservative party chairman Jake Berry says he regrets telling people to get better-paid jobs to cover their energy bills. Mr Berry described his controversial comments as 'ever so clumsy'.
The MP for Rossendale and Darwen told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday last week: "People know that when their bills arrive, they can either cut their consumption or they can get (a) higher salary or higher wages, go out there and get that new job. That's the approach the Government is taking in trying to create growth."
But speaking to GMB on Thursday, he said: "I accept (my comments) were ever so clumsy and I'm sorry if people have misinterpreted it. It was part of a larger interview.
Read more:
"The real point I was trying to make in a terrible and clumsy way is the approach of the government is to grow the economy to ensure that families when they receive things like their energy bills don't have that huge bill shock."
Mr Berry went on to say the Government needs to wait until inflation figures are available to make a decision on uprating benefits this autumn. Universal Credit rises in line with inflation, but Mr Berry has previously said he's open to changing that policy.
He told LBC: "The Government must make a decision based on facts. The situation with benefits is that some benefits as a matter of law are uprated in line with inflation, and other benefits… it is a decision of the Government.
What do you think? Have your say in our comments below.
"They do tend to be those out-of-work benefits to which you refer. But the inflation figures that are used are the inflation figures for the autumn.
"The Government actually doesn’t have those figures at the moment. So rather than people asking us… rather than people expecting us to guess, we've got to wait until those figures are available, at which point the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Chancellor will decide how those benefits should be uprated, that will come to the Cabinet, and they will be discussed and a decision will be announced in due course.
"You simply cannot make a decision on figures you do not currently have."
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Teenager who killed dad-of-one in 'unusual circumstances' walks free from court
- Driver 'covered in wet grass' headbutted police officer after high-speed chase down wrong side of motorway
- Referee left with 'significant injuries' after being attacked on pitch during amateur football match
- 'He can't afford it': Tory mayor questions Andy Burnham's vision for London-style bus system
- ‘I was neglected for hours while in labour and lost my baby - the hospital admits my child could have been saved’
