Grenfell Tower: Conservative politician suspended after offensive 'hanging' tweet causes uproar

'That tweet doesn’t make me a bad man. People that know me know that I’m not a bad person,' says Ken Hawkins

A Conservative politician has been suspended after appearing to suggest there should have been a “hanging” during protests over the Grenfell Tower catastrophe.

Ken Hawkins, a cabinet member at Solihull Council, sent the offensive, inflammatory tweet after hundreds of protesters stormed Kensington Town Hall on Friday to voice their anger about the devastating inferno which is thought to have claimed at least 79 lives.

Replying to an image of protesters gathered outside the town hall chanting for justice, Mr Hawkins said: “Lets get ourselves a hangin!”

The Tory councillor has now apologised “unreservedly” for the since-deleted tweet. However, he has been suspended while an investigation carried out by the West Midlands council takes place after a formal complaint was lodged against him.

Mr Hawkins, who has now made his Twitter page private, told The Independent he had been advised not to talk to the press about the controversial comment but insisted it did not make him a bad person.

“That tweet doesn’t make me a bad man. People that know me know that I’m not a bad person,” he said.

In an apology posted to Twitter on Monday he said: "I fully appreciate that my tweet on Friday which related to the protest outside and inside the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea council offices may have caused offence and I unreservedly apologise for that.

"In no way whatsoever was the short message directed at the unfortunate victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and I am distraught that some people have interpreted it in this way."

But this has not stopped the comment prompting fury on Twitter, with some even calling for him to resign for the "insensitive" statement. One critic branded him a "disgrace to humankind" and "not very bright to go with it".

"Does Ken Hawkins represent you. Is it right he is in charge of housing? People need to feel they matter and are listened to," asked another.

Council leader Bob Sleigh, who was honoured with an OBE, told The Independent Mr Hawkins had been "rightly" apologetic, adding: “I’m sure he didn’t mean it. I obviously have to wait for the outcome of the investigation so do not want to comment any further at this time.”

He added: “I’ve great sympathy for people who have suffered this terrible tragedy”.

In a statement, Mr Sleigh said he had taken “immediate action” to suspend Mr Hawkins and would be taking over his responsibilities as cabinet member for the environment, housing and regeneration in the meantime.

He said: “In light of the complaint related to Cllr Hawkins' comments on social media, an investigation will now take place led by the council's monitoring officer in line with the council's standards procedure," he said.

Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey block in west London, was consumed by flames in the early hours of last Wednesday morning in the deadliest blaze to shake the capital since the Second World War and one of Britain’s biggest ever tower block fires.

Police have revealed 79 people are confirmed to be either dead or missing and presumed dead, and the number is expected to increase further. Sorrow and shock has rapidly turned into fury as it has become clear the disaster could have been prevented.

Fears of a cover-up in the wake of the tragedy have been raised, with Labour MP David Lammy calling for urgent action to avoid potential plots to prevent the public discovering the truth about the harrowing catastrophe. The MP for Tottenham has issued a plea for Theresa May to immediately seize all relevant documents and claimed contractors who dealt with the 24-storey west London building had erased details of their work on the now fire-ravaged tower from their websites.