A Government minister has questioned whether British society has "become a bit selfish" in how it cares for the elderly, it has been reported.

Phillip Lee told a fringe event at the Tory Party conference that families had started to "outsource the care of our parents", and asked: "Why have we gone down that path?", according to the Daily Mail.

The GP and justice minister told the event that Muslim, Jewish and Hindu communities are more likely to look after each other in later life.

"When I used to do (GP) visits, I would go into residential nursing homes and I would rarely meet a Jew, a Muslim or a Hindu. It's uncomfortable for me.

"But in those communities it's a responsibility that they look after their own, that they care for each other at different stages of our lives," he is reported as saying.

"And we don't do that. We are outsourcing the care of our parents. Why have we gone down that path - is it because we have become a bit selfish?"

The MP for Bracknell said later on Twitter that his comments had been "deliberately manipulated to give a wholly false impression".