Paisley Jr rebuked for Hopkins retweet

UNIONIST firebrand Ian Paisley Jr landed himself in hot water yesterday by retweeting an Islamophobic slur by controversial columnist Katie Hopkins.

The Democratic Unionist Party said its MP’s actions were ‘totally inappropriate’.

The DUP, headed up by Arlene Foster, said it had seen the tweet and ‘deplores its sentiments’.

Ms Hopkins wrote the murder rate in London last month was higher than New York’s, adding: ‘And Ramadan’s not yet begun.’

Ramadan is a month of fasting for Muslims and one of the most important practices of Islam.

A DUP spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph that Mr Paisley has since removed his retweet of the comment.

The DUP will now consider if it will take action against Mr Paisley at the next meeting of party officers, the spokesman added.

Former Sinn Féin MLA Dáithí McKay had called for the DUP to immediately apologise. ‘In most parties this would lead to immediate suspension, if not worse,’ he said.

Ms Hopkins has made a career out of outrageous comments, especially on Twitter.

Last May, she and LBC radio in London agreed that she would leave her radio show ‘with immediate effect’ after she tweeted that Britain needed ‘a final solution’ for Muslims after the Manchester Arena terrorist attack that month.

The station refused to confirm or deny that Hopkins had been sacked.