A Labour MP has sparked a backlash after celebrating chants of “f*** the Tories” at a festival over the weekend.
Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols took to Twitter on Saturday to post a picture of the crowd watching singer Jamie Webster at Neighbourhood Weekender.
She said: “Big chants of ‘f*** the Tories’ for Jamie Webster at Neighbourhood Weekender and, I can’t lie, I absolutely LOVE to see it! Love you, Warrington.”
But Ms Nichols – who has previously claimed attacks on politicians are “whipped up by things that have been online” – has attracted criticism over her tweet.
Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart accused the Labour MP of “peddling hate”.
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Mr Stuart said: “Not a good look – and a terrible example to others. Be great if you reconsidered and deleted this.”
Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson said: “I’m actually shocked that you learnt the lyrics. After all, it is three words.”
Tory MP Chris Loder said: “Typical unpleasant nasty hard left Labour hypocrisy.”
Conservative Assembly Member Susan Hall sarcastically added: “A Labour MP spreading the love.”
Former Margaret Thatcher adviser Nile Gardiner said: “Labour is a disgrace and full of hate.”
Conservative commentator, Tim Montgomerie branded Ms Nichols “a complete and utter hypocrite”.
Reform UK deputy leader Dr David Bull added: “This woman is a disgrace to public office. Can standards get any lower.”
Ms Nichols defended her tweet during an interview on TalkTV yesterday, insisting the “f*** the Tories” chant cannot be “considered an incite to violence”.
Pressed on if the post was hypocritical following her previous comments on online abuse, she said: “I don’t think it is because the sorts of things I’m talking about are some of the conspiracy theories around vaccines, misinformation that’s put out about various people. It’s those sorts of things that I’m talking about.
“I don’t think a generic chant about a political party is part of that kind of toxicity and I don’t think it can be considered an incite to violence.”
Last November, Ms Nichols said politicians need to lead by example and model “a good kind of debate”.
She told the BBC: “I’ve had someone come to my office with a knife before [and] I’ve had physical violence against me. A lot of that has been whipped up by things that have been online.”
The Labour MP said that there was a “need to have clear laws, particularly around online harassment”, but added that politicians had to lead by example.
She said: “I think ultimately that all of us in some form of public life, whether it’s in the council chamber or the chamber in Westminster, need to be modelling a good kind of debate that is based on policies and not on personal attacks.”
Labour and Ms Nichols have been contacted for comment.
