
Labour MP Rosie Cooper is demanding answers after Chancellor George Osborne was forced to suspend a "Spending Challenge" website that was littered with racist and bigoted comments.
The HM Treasury site was designed to collect ideas on how the Tory/Lib-Dem coalition Government can save money through cost-cutting and efficiency.
But blundering Whitehall officials allowed visitors to post a torrent of vile abuse on the site until the error was spotted and the interactive web pages were taken down.
Labour MP Rosie Cooper is demanding an apology from the Chancellor for the offence caused to sections of society by the vile comments.
She was contacted by a worried constituent who was appalled at what was posted on the official web site.
West Lancashire Labour MP Miss Cooper said: "Some of the comments posted on this site were highly offensive to my constituents
"It demonstrates the rank amateur approach of the current government in that they failed to realise that comments need to be moderated before they are published on an official web site.
"When the blunder was pointed-out to them it seems they were slow to react until the levels of abuse escalated and it became so outrageous and offensive that they were forced to take it down."
Visitors to the site were promised "the best ideas will be taken forward as part of the Spending Review".
Some of the outrageous suggestions included:-
* "Re-open the workhouses for the unemployed, the elderly and asylum seekers. To prevent the problem of generations of poor people, release could be conditional on getting sterilised."
* "Discourage those who do not work from starting a family. Where NHS staff have identified that a couple or single mother isn't in a position to support themselves and a child financially, they should be advised to terminate the pregnancy (if very early on), or be recommended to give the child up for adoption.
* "Put benefits claimants to work in sweatshops and send the unemployed to Afghanistan as cannon fodder."
* "Employ crocodiles in benefits offices to discourage claims"
* "Stop paying Job Seekers' Allowance etc to drunks, druggies and wastrels"
* Stop handing-out free laptops and internet connections to the unemployed. I worked fifteen years before I could afford to buy myself a laptop, yet some toerag who's never worked a day in his life gets it courtesy of the State."
* "Move immigrants in council houses out of cities. Tell immigrants that they
are being moved to less expensive areas. If they don't want to, they can
leave the country."
* A reply said: "I'm not sure that I want to see immigrants living in our villages - keep them in the ghetto's until such time as they can all be deported."
Miss Cooper added: "I was contacted by a constituent who was disgusted to see how the site was littered with the most ugly examples of ignorance and prejudice.
"She was rightly revolted by the use of taxpayers' money to foster racism and hatred of benefit claimants.
"The site featured a 'Report to the moderator¹ feature, but appeared to be otherwise un-policed and that was a fundamental mistake.
"To leave the responsibility for moderating a government website to members of the public is inexcusably negligent and perhaps criminally irresponsible.
"Many of the suggestions on the site were targeted at specific groups and publishing them could be considered by some to be criminal.
"It is totally unacceptable and I will be asking laying down a number of questions for George Osborne to establish who was responsible for these blunders and what action is to be taken.
"I will also be seeking assurances that measures will be put in place to ensure that, in future, there will be no repeat of this kind of abuse on official Government web sites."
HM Treasury confimed that the site was taken down so that changes could be made to prevent the abuse being posted.
A Treasury spokeswoman said: "There was, unfortunately a small, but persistent group of users posting inappropriate and unwelcome comments.
"We've had more than twenty-five thousand ideas from the public and the vast majority of them have been constructive."
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