A Conservative councillor has been suspended after he tweeted a faked picture of Jeremy Corbyn laying a poppy wreath by the burning taxi used in the Liverpool bombing.
Paul Nickerson shared the image on Twitter on Monday evening, just one day after asylum seeker Emad al-Swealmeen died in a blast outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
Counter-terror police believe the 32-year-old’s improvised explosive device detonated just as the taxi he was a passenger in drew up outside the hospital.
Mr Nickerson, who sits on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, did apologise for the tweet after coming under heavy criticism online, but has now been suspended by the Tory group leader on the council.
Jonathan Owen, the Tory leader in East Riding, said Mr Nickerson’s doctored image was “inappropriate and offensive” and therefore had had suspended him while an investigation was underway.
“All people in public life, irrespective of politics, should be united in condemning the terrorist attack that took place outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday.
“It is not the time for inappropriate remarks, however intended, and they will not be tolerated in this Conservative Group. Residents should expect their elected representatives to act in an appropriate manner at all times.”
Mr Nickerson posted the image of Mr Corbyn with the words “Unsurprisingly”.
Although Mr Corbyn has yet to make any public remarks about the Liverpool bombing, it is believed the councillor was attempting to reference a controversy from 2018 when the then-Labour leader was attacked for laying a wreath in Tunisia at a cemetery which also contains the graves of those involved in the Munich Olympic massacre.
Following the backlash to his photoshopped image, Mr Nickerson deleted the post and tweeted an apology, which has since also been deleted: “I would like to apologies [sic] for a political tweet sent from my account yesterday which has been upsetting for some people and I unreservedly apologise to all concerned.”
He also claimed someone had hacked his Twitter account and sent “inappropriate direct messages” to others.
Local Labour MP Karl Turner said he was “disgusted” by Mr Nickerson’s attempt to make a political point out of the Liverpool bombing.
The Hull East MP said: “Anybody would be utterly disgusted that any elected member of any political party would make light of a terror attack on mainland Britain on the very day that our Home Secretary has had to raise the threat level.”
The police investigation into the bombing continues, while the UK terror threat level has since been raised to “severe”, which means another attack is believed to be “highly likely”.
