EXCLUSIVE: Labour councillor suspended for Auschwitz tweet

A Labour councillor in Nottingham has been suspended from the party after retweeting an image of the Auschwitz train tracks, with the political slogan: “Let’s stay on the road to a stronger economy”, writes Justin Cohen and Stephen Oryszczuk.

A party spokesman on Tuesday told the Jewish News that Rosemary Healy had been suspended with immediate effect, and while Healy was quick to apologise, opposition politicians launched a withering condemnation.

“Sadly it is indicative of a nasty streak developing in the party. Trivialising the Holocaust in this way is wholly unacceptable.” said Mike Freer, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green.

Harlow MP Robert Halfon tweeted that it was a “shocking and tragic trivialisation of real evil by a Labour councillor”.

The mocked-up poster in question carries the Conservative logo with the line: “More people on zero hours, more tax cuts for the rich, no more NHS.”

Website rightofcentre.co.uk broke the news that Cllr Healy, who has represented Mapperley on the Nottingham City Council since 2011, shared the image on Twitter yesterday, and local Conservative politicians reacted angrily.

“[She] presumably believed it to be funny,” said Conservative Councillor Georgina Culley. “It is not in any way funny… Councillor Healy and her party should be ashamed.”

Healy, who is the Executive Assistant for Community Protection, tweeted: “Profound apologies for that retweet which was a genuine mistake and would never have retweeted it had I recognised it for what it was.”