MP Barry Sheerman has fiercely defended a decision to miss parliamentary business for a luxury break in Thailand.

The Huddersfield MP is in South East Asia for a holiday with wife Pamela to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

He stayed on for the 10-day break after taking part in a conference on education in the country’s capital, Bangkok.

The British Council, a taxpayer-funded organisation set up to promote Britain abroad, paid for his three-night stay in a £90-a-night hotel during the conference and his £2,887 first class flight home this Saturday.

Mr Sheerman has missed two days of parliamentary work, including an education committee meeting, as a result of remaining in Thailand for a holiday.

But, speaking from the country, Mr Sheerman said his break had the blessing of Labour whips.

He added he had covered the additional costs of the holiday, including Mrs Sheerman’s plane ticket and their room at a luxury hotel.

He said: “I’m the least-travelled of any MP and was deeply reluctant to go on this occasion as I don’t like to miss Commons work.

“But the British Council nagged me as chairman of the Children, Schools and Families select committee.

“It backed on to half-term week, so at the last minute I decided to buy my wife a ticket as a surprise.

“Any additional costs have been paid for by me – every penny.”

Mr Sheerman, who has attended all but one of his last 52 committee meetings, was the keynote speaker at the Leading Edge on Strategic Education Dialogues in East Asia conference.

The two-day event last week was billed as a “high-level symposium to develop mutually beneficial transnational educational partnerships in the East Asia region”.

Huddersfield University was among the establishments from across the world that had stalls at the event.

Baroness Verma and Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock also attended.

All three delegates stayed at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Bangkok at the expense of the British Council.

Baroness Verma and Mr Hancock returned to the UK on February 5.

Mr Sheerman travelled with his wife to Chiang Mai province, where they are staying at the luxury Mandarin Hotel.

By remaining in Thailand, he missed two days of Commons work before the recess started on February 7.

In a report in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers’ Alliance was quoted criticising Mr Sheerman for “piggy-backing their own holidays on taxpayer-funded junkets”.

But Mr Sheerman accused the paper of “muckraking”.

He said: “I did a good job at the conference and I was proud to be there representing Britain.

“The Sunday Telegraph has tarnished what was meant to be a pleasant holiday to celebrate our anniversary.

“I have done nothing wrong and I would do the same again.”

A British Council spokesman said Mr Sheerman’s trip to Thailand was vital.

“Students from abroad bring in £8.5bn to the UK and it vital we maintain links with the countries who send their students.

“We wanted Mr Sheerman at this conference and we are delighted he was able to attend.

“We usually pay for Business Class flights, but there were none available on this trip and we paid for First Class for Mr Sheerman and Baroness Verma for the flight out.

“Mr Sheerman’s decision to stay on was entirely his decision and he has met all the costs.”