A BRENT MP responded after he came under fire for travelling to Mexico while much of England is flooded.

Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, was photographed in swimming shorts at a resort in Cancun for a conference organised by a pharmaceutical company as part of a Mail on Sunday investigation.

The shadow minister for environment, food, and rural affairs went on the £3,650 trip funded by Sigma Pharmaceuticals to give a lecture on waste with his wife to the Moon Palace Resort.

In a statement he said: "During the half term holiday last week I honoured a commitment to speak to a pharmacy industry conference about waste. After three days attending the conference I remained on holiday for two further days with my wife in Mexico before flying back to the UK. Parliament was in recess last week and there was absolutely no cost to the public purse. At a time when parts of the UK were still recovering from the floods I am conscious in retrospect that it would have been better to have cancelled my participation in the conference and I regret any hurt this has caused to those still coping with the aftermath of flood damage to their homes and property."

Mr Gardiner tweeted on February 22: “Just door stepped by Mail on Sunday in Mexico. Here trying to reduce £300million of pharmacy waste & they fly a journo out “to expose”.”

Then added: “£300m of pharmacy waste could buy 19,800 treatments for breast cancer or 11,775 more community nurses. MailonSunday belittle a serious issue.”

Somerset Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said called on him to bring his mankini to the flood-hit county.

He said: “The timing is probably not great, I accept that he probably had his holiday booked. But actually we are all stuck down here at the moment trying to help clear the mess and we need all hands grimly on the pumps. It’s not easy - the water is still here, we still have a lot to clear. It would be nice to see Barry down here and I welcome him to come down when he gets back perhaps he can slip his mankini into his bag and see us. If he would like sun, sea and surf I have got it all here in Somerset. If he would like to come down I can supply him with a deck chair and a knotted hanky.”

A Labour spokesman said: “It is Ed Miliband and Maria Eagle who have led Labour’s response to the floods crisis. They have visited families and businesses affected across the South West and Thames Valley. They have ensured the Government’s slow response to this crisis was speeded up and shown how David Cameron’s government failed to prepare for flooding despite the evidence of climate change. Labour’s response has been effective and robust. To suggest anything else is ridiculous.”