A TORY minister was told he should have his pay stopped after arriving late to a debate on benefits sanctions yesterday.

Michael Tomlinson said he had “good reason” for failing to arrive on time at Westminster Hall.

However, Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss said the minister – who defended the Government’s sanctions regime, claiming it acts to “drive people into work” – should lose his cash the way welfare claimants do when held up for meetings.

Under the Tory administration’s rules, benefits recipients who are late or miss meetings can have their cash cut by a minimum of four weeks.

The decision rests on whether the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) believes an individual has a good reason.

Yesterday Thewliss said Tomlinson should be subject to the same rules as the public are, saying: “He was late for this debate – I hope he loses wages as a result of that.”

When Tomlinson answered he had “good cause”.

Thewliss hit back: “You should go and explain it to someone else and see if they consider that fair.”

The exchange happened after Thewliss revealed one constituent with clinical depression had been sanctioned for one year after missing appointments as a result of his condition.

Anne McLaughlin, who represents Glasgow North East, told how one of her constituents talked of suicide after being ground down by the benefits system, calling him “a grown man who once had a lot of self-respect, who once had a very tough job”.