Labour Party urges South Shields MP's husband to delete '˜offending' tweet after fresh Twitter row

The MP’s £14,999.99-a-year permanent part-time parliamentary assistant Simon Buck has come under fire over his response to a social media discussion about fox hunting where the Prime Minister Theresa May and her Government were lambasted over their stance on the issue.

He retweeted a link to the discussion showing a video of a fox dancing in the snow and posted the statement: “Tories - ‘kill them, kill them all”’.

His wife said he was quoting a Tory who had commented on the issue but Conservatives have slammed the post and argue it could be interpreted very differently.

And South Shields Labour Party have urged Mr Buck to remove the “offending” post and say he should consider “apologising”. for his remark.

The complaints about the post, made on December 10 last year, come after Mr Buck used the social media site to brand The Gazette “a comic” after it emerged he had supported a Boundary Commission proposal to move the Simonside and Rekendyke wards into the Jarrow constituency - directly contradicting the views of his wife and employer.

Mrs Lewell-Buck has urged residents to fight the proposal and says she has written a letter to this effect to The Boundary Commission.

The organisation have been unable to trace it and, so far, it has failed to appear on the Boundary Commission webside.

On Mr Buck’s fox hunting tweet, a spokesman for South Shields Constituency Labour Party said: “This does seem a rather unfortunate choice of words to use on a social media platform.

“We would urge Mr Buck to delete the offending tweet and consider apologising for the inappropriate language.”

Conservative Party member Jeff Milburn said: “This could be interpreted very differently.

“If he is claiming this is some sort of joke at the expense of the Conservative Party then it has totally backfired.

“What he has written can be taken two ways and in this day, the words he has used, and the way it has been left for people to make their own interpretation of what he has posted is very dangerous.

“In today’s society, to come out with a statement like that is just outrageous.

“There is no indication this has been made as a flippant remark, it is down to each person’s own individual interpretation of the words and how he has portrayed them.

“Most people in the Labour party would never post words like that on a social media site and the party needs to do something about it.”

When approached by the Gazette Emma Lewell-Buck said: “This tweet is linked to a video about fox hunting if you note the quotations this is a quote from a Tory whom my husband is quoting in relation to fox hunting - it really is a shame you feel the need to hound my office in this way especially when you have your facts wrong. Please desist from contacting my office with such nonsense.”