A FORMER Southampton MP has been criticised for calling Parliament's waiters “servants”.

Tory Christopher Chope, who represented Southampton Itchen until he was beaten by Labour's John Denham in 1992, used the description during a speech in the House of Commons.

It came as the 65-year-old former barrister, who is now the MP for Christchurch in Dorset, was making a plea for prices in the exclusive restaurants to be cut for politicians.

He said: “I dined on all three nights in the Dining Room and almost nobody else was present - but the service was absolutely fantastic because there were three servants for each person sitting down.”

Opposition Labour MPs immediately seized on his wording, asking if that is what he had meant to say.

Mr Chope replied: “Exactly”.

He later insisted he had meant that everyone working in Parliament is a servant of the House of Commons, and was “complimenting” the waiters.

But Mr Chope was later criticised by Labour MPs for being “out of touch”.

And Matthew Sinclair from the Taxpayers' Alliance said: “Talk of higher food prices and servants waiting at tables suggests some of our politicians really have lost touch with reality.”