LABOUR parliamentary candidate David Drew says Debbie Hicks’ comments after the Manchester attack were 'crass and insensitive' but he has condemned the abuse she has received online.

Ms Hicks made a Facebook post on Tuesday saying: “I can’t help thinking that this is wonderful timing for Theresa May”.

The post was later deleted and she apologised for the comment describing it as “ill-timed”.

Even though he didn’t agree with Ms Hicks’ post, Mr Drew has told the SNJ that he thinks the reaction to the story has been “vile”.

“The abuse she has received has been unacceptable, people say silly things and they should be held to account for it, but not with threats, if you’ve looked online it’s vile.”

Asked if this would affect his election campaign, he said: “I hope that it doesn’t play with people’s opinion, I am me, and I’m different, and I would never have said that, but again we all need to take some responsibility.”

Mr Drew has said that this is the most fraught election campaign he’s ever run.

“This is the seventh time I’ve done this, and I’ve never known it being quite as fraught, because people are very divided, and Manchester - whilst the great gatherings and tributes in Manchester have been so moving, it shouldn’t have happened, and we have to hope we get through the rest of the campaign without anything else going wrong.”