The MP for Lichfield and Burntwood has come under fire for calling a teenager “a complete twat” on social media.
Michael Fabricant made his comments on Twitter after the poster had questioned his commitment to part of the constituency.
Darcy May had called the Conservative MP “weak and wobbly” after suggesting he did not give enough attention to Burntwood.
But Mr Fabricant hit back:
Says a complete twat who seems unaware that there is no vote this year in Burntwood!
And I neglect no part of my lovely constituency.
That’s why I’m loved!! https://t.co/FyIqEmmRPy
— Michael Fabricant 🇬🇧🇮🇱🇺🇦 (@Mike_Fabricant) May 4, 2018
In a response on Facebook, 19-year-old Darcy described the MP’s comments as “disgusting”.
She said: “I never used foul language to him – I even asked if he would like to discuss this further in private message or in person, which he didn’t respond to.
“He would rather his followers slam me for expressing an opinion.
“I never mentioned a vote in Burntwood and I never slammed the Tories – I literally just complained about Burntwood, yet I’m getting loads of messages from his ‘supporters’ attacking me personally.”
Darcy said she hoped people would take a stand against the MP’s comments.
“It is important that we show authorities that hateful language and talking down to us will not be tolerated,” she said. “Regardless of your political views, we should all take a stand.
“We are all human and deserve to be spoken to with respect.”
Mr Fabricant told LichfieldLive that Twitter was “not for the easily offended”.
“Darcy is one of over a million people who interact with me each month on Twitter one way or another,” he said. “Often, especially at election time, Momentum trolls from Glasgow and elsewhere purport to comment on events in Lichfield and Burntwood while knowing nothing about the area and having no connection with the area either.
“Darcy made no attempt to explain on her Twitter profile or in her message what age she is, or that she actually lives anywhere near Burntwood.
“Instead she chose to reply to a post of mine which said that Labour had had disappointing election results with her rude response: ‘Not as disappointing as Burntwood since you neglected it. WEAK AND WOBBLY’. No indication of anything else. For all I know she is a Russian troll in St Petersburg – there are plenty of those.
“I do not neglect Burntwood nor were there any elections in Burntwood so her tweet was not only unpleasant, but inaccurate too.
“Twitter is not like Facebook. It is not for those who are easily offended – unless they deliberately choose to be offended for political gain. ‘Snowflakes’ they are called. Labour activists love playing that game.
“Having said that, if Darcy really is a constituent and makes contact with me in the proper way through my Parliamentary website or by letter, I would be more than happy to meet her and talk about politics – though the running of Burntwood is of course a local government matter. I do that all the time.”
But Darcy told LichfieldLive that Mr Fabricant “should know better”.
She explained: “I was shocked and disappointed – nobody deserves to be disrespected or spoken to in that manner.
“Someone in his position should know better.”
