Bob Crow has defended living in a council house despite earning £145,000 annually.

The general secretary of the rail union RMT was challenged during a radio interview as to why he still lived in social housing instead of a private home when he earned such a generous salary.

During the heated discussion, Mr Crow told LBC 97.3 presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer he had “no moral duty” to move out of the property and purchase his own home, adding: “I was born in a council house, as far as I’m concerned I will die in one.”

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He said he was being "victimised" even though he is "the only one down my road who pays their rent".

The comments came as Mr Crow joined the radio programme for a discussion over the legacy of Margaret Thatcher which quickly became centred on Mr Crow living in a council property after he argued that they "are not just for people that are poor".

He said it would be unfair on his family to move them out of the home they currently live in north London. “It’s not just me that lives there, it’s my family", he said. "Yes I could buy my own place but why don’t you ask the rest of my family who live at home with me whether they should have to move as well?’ he said.

“Why is it just down to me to buy a house? Why should my family who have lived there for 30 years, with all the friends they’ve got, have to move because of the job I’ve got?”

He argued that if he did move he would be seen as having deserted his working class roots. “If I moved out of my house tomorrow the first thing you’d say is Comrade Crow leaves his roots,” he said.

"Where was it ever agreed that social housing was for people that are poor? [...] Council houses is [sic] not just for poor people."