A former Ukip MEP has provoked outrage on social media today after telling the father of a London Bridge terror attack victim to “grieve silently”.
Godfrey Bloom, who served as an MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2004 to 2014, responded to David Merritt’s post on Twitter which has garnered tens of thousands of compassionate responses.
Merrit had targeted the Mail and the Express newspapers, telling them not to use his son’s death to promote their “vile propaganda”.
But Bloom hit back at the post, saying:
“As I understand it your son died because he believed early release for jihadists was justified because they could be rehabilitated.
“Society is demanding these releases stop immediately
” A very pragmatic view, nothing vile about it.
“Grieve silently is my advice.”
It’s not the first time Bloom has made the headlines for his controversial opinions.
In 2016 he responded to pro-European remarks by actress Emma Thompson, saying he would “spank her silly bottom“.
The thread was picked up by right wing newspapers, with The Sun splashing with Thompson’s comments and also calling her a “leftie luvvie” and telling her to “shut yer cakehole”.
In December 2008, Bloom was also carried out by an intern after making a speech in the European Parliament while drunk.
It was the second occasion on which he was accused of being drunk in the chamber.
