West Suffolk MP Matthew Hancock has apologised on Twitter for sharing a poem which suggests the Labour party is full of “queers”.

Mr Hancock received a backlash after he retweeted the message yesterday, which was National Poetry Day.

He later tweeted: “Previous RT was a total accident. I wholeheartedly disagree with offensive comment in the tweet & am incredibly sorry for any offence caused.”

One person commented: “you’re seriously retweeting homophobic tweets?”

Another said: “you do realise gay people vote too, right?”

Conservative MP Mr Hancock was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in July.