Coventry Conservative candidate denies comparing Jeremy Corbyn to Adolph Hitler

[dutchman]

A senior Conservative councillor who failed to become a Coventry MP has denied comparing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to Hitler in a tweet about the Grenfell Tower fire



Michelle Lowe, who suffered defeat in her bid to become the MP for Coventry South in this month’s General Election , posted a tweet on Monday evening which contained a picture of Adolf Hitler with a group of smiling young people and the caption “Politicians should go out and hug the public more. It proves they are nice people.”

Ms Lowe has been condemned by Coventry Conservatives and Labour MPs for the tweet which has been branded “offensive” and “insensitive”. Others threatened to report the Tweet to Sevenoaks Council, in Kent, where Ms Lowe is the deputy leader.

Many people responding to the message had drawn the conclusion that it was a reference to Jeremy Corbyn.

But, when challenged over the tweet, Ms Lowe said the post was actually a reference to the way Conservative prime minister Theresa May had dealt with the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Mrs May came in for criticism when she did not meet victims of the disaster, which is thought to have claimed 79 lives, while Jeremy Corbyn was praised for meeting those affected.

Asked about the Tweet, she told the Telegraph: “The purpose of the Tweet was not to cause offence but to point out that just because some people are reserved and not as able to be as familiar with strangers as others it does not mean they don’t care about their suffering.

“People show emotions and comfort in different ways. We are all different and respond differently - and that was all I meant by it.

“It was a comparison with Theresa May and no one else dealing with the Grenfell Tower victims - for which she took a lot of criticism - and nothing else.”

The tweet was deleted from Ms Lowe’s account on Tuesday afternoon.