No one wants to see children grow up in poverty, the Prime Minister said in response to suggestions from a Tory backbencher that “crap parents” are to blame in many struggling families.

Bury North MP James Daly faced criticism over Christmas for suggesting most children who struggle in the town are “products of crap parents”.

Asked about the remark by broadcasters during a visit to the North West, Rishi Sunak said: “No one wants to see any child grow up in poverty. I certainly don’t.

“The best way we can help families is to make sure that those parents are in great jobs and are well-paid and that we are cutting their taxes.”

“That is exactly what we are doing, starting from tomorrow,” Mr Sunak added, pointing to the reduction in national insurance rates by two percentage points to 10%, which starts this weekend.

Asked what causes child poverty if not “crap parenting”, Mr Sunak said: “All the evidence and the research shows that the best way to ensure that children don’t grow up in poverty is to make sure that they are not growing up in a household where no-one is working.”

The Prime Minister added: “A child where neither of their parents are working are five times more likely to grow up in poverty.”

He pointed to the Government’s plans to invest in childcare provision and raise the national living wage as measures that will help eradicate child poverty.

“All of that is going to help put more money into the pockets of hardworking families across the North West and the rest of the country,” Mr Sunak said.

Mr Daly, speaking to the i newspaper in December, stressed the importance of “stability” offered by the family unit as he outlined what the New Conservatives group of MPs stands for.

The Bury North MP said: “When you think about the family, it’s about stability.

“Most of the kids who struggle in Bury are the products of crap parents and so what do we do to try to address that issue?”

He faced criticism from his political rival James Frith, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Bury North, who said: “Rather than insulting the parenting skills of people in Bury, he should look closer to home.

“Over the last 13 years the Conservatives have failed to grow our economy, protect our public services or provide opportunities for young people in Bury and across the UK.”