FATHERS who don’t support their children should be made to wear high-visibility vests and sweep the streets, a Gwent MP has said.

Monmouth Tory MP David Davies courted controversy yet again on Tuesday when, in a speech at a debate on cuts to housing benefit, he suggested “feckless fathers” who abandon their children should be “put in chains”.

Today he told the Argus: “If the government says if you have to wear a yellow vest and sweep the streets for eight hours so the state should have something back for the children that you should be paying for, I’d totally support that.”

“The rule should be if you go out and have children, even if you don’t have a job you should do some work in the community to pay back that support that that child is getting,” he added.

Mr Davies said his comment about putting feckless fathers in chains was made when he was “trying to compete with a lot of shouting”.

“Young men should not be able to have young children and expect the state and their mothers to deal with the consequences. They should be made to work,” he said, adding that the “courts should enforce it.”

“I am talking about a general problem, not a problem with people getting divorced. I’m talking about a small number of people that are happy to have sex with women, have children with them with no contraception and not give a damn for the consequences."

The House of Commons debate on cuts to housing benefit, known as the bedroom tax, also saw him question why the state should be paying for a “teenage love-nest” – referring to a Blaenavon couple he met for a BBC film that he has publicly criticised before.

Mr Davies also told the Argus in October that “feckless fathers should be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and made to work”.

Asked why he keeps making such comments, the MP told the Argus: “Why should I have to defend myself for speaking my mind? That was what I was elected to do. It seems to come as a big surprise to people.

“I perhaps have a style, what can I say, that’s a bit more direct than a lot of other MPs, which may or may not be a good thing.”

Monmouthshire council Labour group leader Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said the speech by David Davies was “just a ramble” and an “ill-judged rant,” and accused him of ignoring his own constituents.

He said Mr Davies “had an opportunity to represent the plight of the 889 households, his constituents, affected by the bedroom tax.

“Instead, he has ignored them.”