Mercer's social media row with Vorderman

SPARKS FLY AS HOMELESSNESS ROW ESCALATES

- DAVE BURKE & BEN HURST

PLYMOUTH Moor View MP Johnny Mercer has sparked a row on X, formerly Twitter, with a sweary response to TV star Carole Vorderman over veterans' homelessness.

Mr Mercer, the Government's Minister of State for Veterans Affairs, blasted the former Countdown host as 'maď' with a 'lonely life, after she criticised him on social media.

Vorderman and Mr Mercer's Labour election rival in Moor View, Fred Thomas, shared figures from a report in The Guardian, claiming a rise in homelessness among armed forces veterans.

Mr Mercer had said on a national radio station earlier this year that he would end homelessness among veterans - but, responding to criticism, he later said he was only referring to veterans "sleeping rough".

Mr Thomas, a former Royal Marine, said he was "furious" and asked if Mr Mercer would apologise for his "abject failure", the Daily Mirror reported.