AN LGBT Conservative campaign group has said it will hold itself to "higher standards" after an unsavoury Twitter row with MP David Davies.

The Monmouth MP has said he was "appalled" by comments made about him  and called the group a "disgrace".

It came after Mr Davies suggested that it is not possible for trans women who have not had gender re-assignment surgery to be women.

He tweeted: "Somebody possessing a penis and pair of testicles is definitely not a woman.

"This should be a biological fact not a matter for political debate."

In response, the LGBT+ Conservatives, the officially-affiliated Conservative lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans group, wrote: "David TC Davies' transphobic views are abhorrent and out of kilter with Conservative Party policy.

"It’s clear that the T in his name stands for transphobe.

"It’s equally clear what the C stands for."

Mr Davies then tweeted: "It is appalling that a Conservative group which purports to stand for equality is willing to allude to the word “****” to describe MPs it doesn't like. You are a disgrace."

The LGBT group has since said the tweet was "meant to be light-hearted, (but) may have inadvertently caused offence."

It added: "This wasn’t our intention.

"We’ll continue to express disagreements with David on #trans issues, but will hold ourselves to higher standards in future."

But Mr Davies has since said he will make an official complaint to chairman of the Conservative Party, Brandon Lewis.

Speaking after the exchange, Mr Davies said: "In a discussion about transgender issues I offered the opinion that it is not possible to be a woman if you are in possession of male genitalia.

"To my surprise this seems to be a controversial statement these days with many people angrily saying that you can indeed be a woman if you have a penis.

"Be that as it may I am entitled to my opinion and I was appalled that a group based in Conservative HQ responded with a joke about my initials TC which they implied stood for ”transphobic ****”.

"Only last week the Conservative Party quite rightly spoke out about abuse on social media but it seems some of our own employees are guilty of it.

"I am writing a strong letter of complaint to the chairman of the party."

LGBT+ and the Conservative party have been contacted for comment.