A TORY MP and former Army captain has described his own experience of sleeping rough on London's streets as a "lot more comfortable" than going on exercise in the forces.

Adam Holloway, MP for Gravesham, sparked reaction from some opposition MPs as he made the claim during his Westminster Hall debate on street homelessness.

He said: "One observation I do have is that if you are fit and of sound mind, there are all sorts of services, not quite 24 hours a day that make it possible to sleep out.

"I'm 52 years old, I was in the Army, to be honest for me, sleeping rough in central London is a lot more comfortable than going on exercise when I was in the Army, but if you are mentally ill or you are drug addicted or you are old or you are personality disordered, then it is a very different thing."

He added: "So I think we do have to accept that some people are able to sleep rough in our cities because there are the resources to do so."

Labour's Laura Smith (Crewe and Nantwich) intervened saying she had been out with homeless people, adding: "I don't relate to what you're saying at all."

She added that one area that needed to be looked at was the high rate of benefit sanctions amongst homeless service users and the impact of the sanctions.

Holloway responded: "We're going to get absolutely nowhere on this in solving the problem in getting to the people who are most needy if we just continue to talk about the homeless and feel sorry for everybody, what we've actually got to do is focus on the people in real need."

Smith replied: "It worries me that you're not recognising some of the real ingrained problems and I don't think anybody would choose to be sleeping rough, I just don't buy that."

Holloway spoke about going to a hostel adding that the thought of potentially spending days or weeks sleeping on the floor in a cramped room "did not appeal very much to me".

He said: "I can completely see how if you're able bodied and of sound mind it would be much more appealing to sleep under the awning of St Paul's Church in Covent Garden ... because there you have freedom ... but of course if I was ill or elderly I'd have been grateful for that place on the floor."

Holloway said it was important not to "make the mistake of lumping all rough sleepers together", adding there was an urgent need to address how mental health problems experienced by rough sleepers were identified and treated.

He said: "In this country where we spend all these gazillions of pounds on a welfare state, we need to try and rescue the people at the very, very bottom of our society from roaming the streets of our cities."

Labour's Ivan Lewis (Bury South) said homelessness was the "ultimate symbol of the gross inequality which scars our country" as he criticised the "slash and burn approach that has decimated public services as a consequence of this Government's policies."

He said: "I don't think he meant to say that you're better off sleeping on the streets than being in the military, that would be a great indictment I think."

Holloway responded: "Sleeping in central London if you are able bodied was no worse than being on exercise in the military, it certainly wouldn't be if you were mentally ill or drug addicted."

Lewis said homelessness could happen to anybody, adding: "This issue also matters to me because in the 1960s a middle aged woman was found sleeping in a Manchester park with her young twins. The police officer who found her said you can sleep here madam but the children can't and they were whisked into care.

"That middle aged woman was my grandmother who was a war widow battling with mental health problems and the twins, my uncle and aunt."

Responding, Minister for Housing and Homelessness Heather Wheeler said tackling homelessness in all forms was a Government priority and it was "truly committed" to achieving its manifesto targets.

The Homelessness Reduction Act she added "transforms the culture of homelessness service delivery".