A Bolton MP has distanced himself from claims that a symbol he has adopted in his social media profile protesting against ongoing coronavirus lockdown restrictions has links to the far right.

Chris Green, MP for Bolton West and Atherton, has been a vocal critic of lockdown restrictions in recent months, arguing that restrictions should be eased faster and sooner.

He has also recently made the case to ditch the wearing of face masks, questioning the government’s evidence of why this needed to be done.

Questions were asked recently however over Mr Green placing a glass of milk emoji in his Twitter profile, following a protest movement started by fellow Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker.

The symbol has been used by far-right figures in the past, especially in America, most notably by Richard Spencer, described as an American Neo-Nazi and conspiracy theorist.

However, the Bolton MP insists adopting it in his Twitter profile is solely due to the protest movement being led by Sir Charles.

Chris Green said: “Sir Charles Walker made the point that he would have a pint of milk as a symbol and as a daily reminder of the concerns related to the lockdown.

“He wanted to be reminded of people’s mental health crises, problems with children’s education, unemployment and the damage to civil liberties because of the lockdown.

“Because I physically attend Parliament each week, I was in the chamber as he made this powerful speech and I agree with him that we should have a regular reminder of the impact that the lockdown and coronavirus is having.”

The speech by Sir Charles came before the vote to extend the Coronavirus Act 2020 on March 25, which gave the government emergency powers to do such things as close shops and schools to limit the spread of Covid-19, which Mr Green voted against.

Sir Charles told the House of Commons in a lengthy speech before the vote: “As sure as eggs are eggs, we will be back here in six months at the end of September being asked to renew this legislation again.

“It is inevitable and anyone who thinks it’s not inevitable is deluding themselves.”