Theresa May quotes Twitter user in Commons who claimed Polish people hit by Brexit hate crimes could deserve it
The account also branded a fellow Twitter user a ‘stupid, feminist piece of sh*t’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Prime Minister Theresa May quoted from a Twitter account in the House of Commons that previously posted a message saying some Polish people who get “lamped” in Brexit hate-crime could have “asked for it”.
Mrs May used the tweet from the “disgusting” account to attack Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, but it later emerged the user has posted a string of offensive messages.
In another post, the account calls a fellow Twitter user a “stupid, feminist piece of sh*t”, while another sees it compare migrants to zombies.
A No 10 source did not deny the Prime Minister’s attack line had been taken from the account, sparking outrage and demands that she apologise.
During Prime Minister’s Questions Ms May quoted a post from Twitter user “Lewis” in an attempt to mock Mr Corbyn’s method of sourcing questions to ask from social media.
The message she read to MPs triggered hearty laughter from the Tory benches and led the account run in the name of Lewis Collins to claim credit for the line.
It then re-posted the original tweet Ms May had seemingly used, adding “looks like I’m famous”.
But inspection of the account reveals a series of offensive tweets. On 4 September it posted a link to a story about two Polish men who had been hurt in what was called a “race hate attack” that took place near the site of a recent murder.
The account added the comment: “Every time a Polish person is lamped, it will always be considered a Brexit hate crime.
“Even if they asked for it.”
In another post the user posted a picture of a zombie, adding that it showed “migrant chancers scouring for ways to circumvent the Calais wall”.
In another tweet he tells a fellow user: “P*ss off you stupid feminist piece of sh*t.”
A No 10 source tried to play down the matter, saying: “The PM’s point was about Corbyn’s polling and the mutual distrust between the Labour Party and British people.
“As she said today, with Labour so divided, there’s only one party capable of uniting the country, the Conservative Party.”
But Labour shadow minister Jon Ashworth said: “This is a disgusting Twitter account and it’s rather unbecoming and rather demeaning to the office of Prime Minister for Theresa May to have been quoting from it.
“Decent people will no doubt expect Mrs May to quickly apologise and disassociate herself from this foul Twitter message.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments