A senior Tory MP has insisted that he was only trying to be helpful when he said on TV that people priced out of London should get on a train to the north.

Sir Richard Ottaway said after the programme that he had not been telling people to “b***** off to Manchester”. However, he stood by his remarks.

Ottaway, who represents Croydon South, appeared on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Show, talking about the housing shortage in his area.

He said: “I can’t sit here and deny the fact that house prices in London are skyrocketing.

“There are plenty of places outside of London where houses are much cheaper, much more affordable.

“I mean, we were talking about the northern hub, houses up there are really quite reasonably priced that is perhaps what we should be doing, is getting people on the trains and up to Manchester.”

After the programme, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate Sarah Jones attacked the comments as out of touch.

She said people deserved better than to be told to move 200 miles away from their homes, jobs and families.

But Ottaway defended what he had said on the BBC – his remarks being reminiscent of what Norman Tebbitt said in 1981 when he suggested people should get  on their bikes to look for work.

Ottaway said: “It certainly wasn’t a b***** off to Manchester statement. [But] if we can persuade people from migrating into London and get them to move to a northern hub instead, it will reduce demand.”

The veteran MP’s view about house prices being far cheaper in the north have been backed by the latest evidence – from the Nationwide.

Yesterday, Nationwide said house prices have risen 11.8% in the last year to stand at £188,903. However, most of that growth has come from London, where annual house price inflation has hit nearly 26%.

The average house price in London in June was £400,404 – 30% higher than at the 2007 peak. In the north, the average house price is £125,106.

While house prices in southern regions are now above their 2007 peak, prices in the north are still below it. In the UK as a whole and excluding London, house prices are 0.4% below peak.