Esther McVey has been condemned for apparently comparing the government’s plans to extend the smoking ban with Nazi Germany.

The former Tory cabinet minister posted a famous poem about the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews on X.

The poem, written in 1946 by German pastor Martin Niemoller, says: “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.

“Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Below it, the MP for Tatton wrote: “Pertinent words re Starmer’s smoking ban.”

The criticism of McVey’s post was led by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which said: “The use of Martin Neimoller’s poem about the horrors of the Nazis to describe a potential smoking ban is an ill-considered and repugnant action.

“We would strongly encourage the MP for Tatton to delete her tweet and apologise for this breathtakingly thoughtless comparison.”

Cabinet office minister Ellie Reeves said: “This is grossly offensive from someone who sat at the Tory cabinet table just months ago. These comments should be condemned by the leader of the opposition and those competing to be the next Tory leader.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting told McVey to “get a grip”.

But McVey doubled down on her previous remarks and insisted she “would not be bullied” into taking down her original post.

She said: “Nobody is suggesting that banning smoking outside pubs can be equated with what happened to the Jews at the hands of the Nazis. It is ridiculous for anyone to even suggest that was what I was doing.

“It is called an analogy – those who restrict freedoms start with easy targets then expand their reach.

“I am pretty sure everyone understands the point I was making and knows that no offence was ever intended and that no equivalence was being suggested.”

Former Labour MP John Mann, who was the last government’s independent adviser on anti-semitism, said: “The apology is worse than the original. I suggest she quickly deletes both and saves herself further embarrassment.”