Former Tory minister Sir Desmond Swayne insisted after the event it was an ‘off the cuff’ remark and the children at the Walhampton School were ‘robust’ enough to handle it
Tory grandee Sir Desmond Swayne turned the air blue on a visit with 10-year-old school children as he raged against litter louts.
On a school visit in his New Forest West, the former minister branded people who dump rubbish or animal waste ‘b*******’.
He insisted after the event it was an ‘off the cuff’ remark and the children at the Walhampton School were ‘robust’ enough to handle it.
Sir Desmond told the Mirror: ‘We were taking about littering the Forest, referring to anyone who dumps stuff all over the Forest.
‘Have you been down to the New Forest recently?
‘I cycle to and from the station when I’m on my way and I do a great deal of dog walking.
‘Even in the middle of nowhere you will find people who have gone to the trouble of putting their dog poo in a little bag and then hanging the bag on a tree branch or on a bush.
‘I was referring generally to anyone who pollutes the place.
‘This is the most magnificent, rarest landscape, lowland heath and people are trashing it, people throw stuff out their cars the whole time.
‘We had a discussion with the children – you know, what is the solution to this? – and I just said off the cuff, ”We’ve got to get the b******s who dump their litter everywhere”.’
Defending the language used in front of the kids, he said: ‘I think they were OK, I think they are strong enough to handle it.
‘Put it this way, there appeared to be no sense of shock either amongst their teacher or the students themselves.’
On a school visit in his New Forest West, the former minister branded people who dump rubbish or animal waste ‘b*******’ (file image of the New Forest in Hampshire)
The £17,000-a-year private school, near Lymington, Hants, teaches youngsters aged two to 13.
The school highlighted the visit on its Facebook page, posting: ‘Six Year 6 pupils from Walhampton attended a presentation to MP’s (sic) in the House of Commons.
‘We were invited by Keep Britain Tidy, supported by Brita, who had run two Plastics Challenge workshops at the school last term.
‘Walhampton was one of two schools talking about ideas to reduce single use plastic waste at the event.’
Sir Desmond was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Mr Cameron for two years after the then PM entered No 10.
He was promoted to a become a Government whip in charge of party discipline.
He held the role for two years before becoming a Minister in the Department for International Development.