A Tory MP has called for surrogacy to be outlawed and compared the practice to taking a puppy prematurely from its mother.

In a series of outspoken comments, Miriam Cates, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, branded surrogacy ‘just ethically not acceptable’, declaring: ‘You don’t have a right to become a parent.’

‘You can’t take a puppy off its mother in this country before it’s weaned. You’re not allowed to,’ she added.

The 41-year-old – a devout Christian described as a ‘darling’ of the Tory party – is the co-chairman of the New Conservatives, an influential group of backbenchers.

Speaking to The House magazine, Mrs Cates also described the Government’s introduction of no-fault divorce in 2022 as ‘the wrong decision’ and warned that IVF fertility treatment ‘cannot solve’ the UK’s falling birth rate.