Labour’s bomb scare ‘joke’ in Jo Cox’s seat

After the senseless murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, her friend tracy Brabin won Cox’s Batley and Spen seat in the resulting by-election.

Back then, the ex-Coronation Street actress seemed to espouse the same brand of inclusive politics that had made Cox so well-loved in West Yorkshire.

Unfortunately, now the mask seems to have slipped — and all because the nearby Dewsbury Conservative Association had the temerity to book a dinner at the National Coal Mining Museum.

When the location for the dinner — scheduled for March and with tory Deputy Chief Whip esther McVey as guest speaker — became known, it prompted some bitter comments on social media.

Peter Ward, an activist in Brabin’s constituency party, was so incensed that the tories would be wining, dining and enjoying themselves in a museum dedicated to mining that he declared on facebook: ‘ Sounds like a good night for bomb scares.’

Brabin notably failed to condemn Ward publicly. After death threats to the caterers, the event was called off. Mark eastwood, chairman of Dewsbury tories, says: ‘Bearing in mind tracy Brabin took over from Jo Cox . . . after she was killed in an act of terror, it’s surprising she [didn’t criticise] this man after he, in effect, advocated an act of terror.’

Brabin later retweeted an apology from Ward about his ‘joke’, but what was she thinking?