A Tory minister was a member of a private Facebook group that called for the return of workhouses for the poor, it emerged today.

Housing Minister Dominic Raab belonged to a closed group called ‘The Ultras’, which argued for all of Britain’s council housing to be sold off and the NHS to be privatised, according to BuzzFeed News .

The 14-member group proclaims its aim is to “pressure the mainstream of the Conservative Party that such policies as: Privatisation of healthcare, the sale of all council housing at market value, and Workhouses for debtors are right and have found their time to enter Britain.”

Mr Raab drew furious criticism last year when he claimed most food bank users were not “languishing in poverty”, blaming “cash flow problems” for the huge rise people needing food parcels.

(Image: Surrey Advertiser)

In 2012, he was one of a group of five Tory MPs who branded Britons “the worst idlers in the world” in a book.

“Too many people in Britain, we argue, prefer a lie-in to hard work.

“Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world.

"We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor.”

Mr Raab, along with fellow MPs Kwasi Kwarteng, Priti Patel, Chris Skidmore and Elizabeth Truss – wanted Prime Minister David Cameron to adopt a more right-wing agenda of tax cuts and weaker labour laws.

He has also heavily campaigned against building on green belt land to combat the housing crisis.

In February, he said: “In my view, as we strive to build more affordable housing, every effort must be made to avoid building on green belt, and I hope this is a shared objective across national and local government.”

Mr Rab told BuzzFeed: “I wasn't aware of this group, let alone that I had inadvertently and mistakenly been linked on Facebook. I have corrected it, and needless to say I do not support its aims.”

Two former Tory MP are also listed as members of the group.

According to Facebook, it is possible to be added to a group by a friend who is a member - but an email notification is triggered, informing the user that they have been added.

Mr Raab has now left the group, as has one other member - leaving 12 people still registered. All the current members were added 7 years ago, when the group was created.

The page has had no activity in the last 30 days.