Brexiteer MP in climbdown after tweet supporting campaigner who turned out to be far-right

Nadine Dorries had to delete a tweet in which she appeared to support a far-right protester. Picture: BBC - Credit: Archant

An arch-Brexiteer MP has deleted a tweet in which she claimed Remain ‘fanatics’ were hounding a Leave voter – only to find that she had been standing up for a well-known far-right figure.

Nadine Dorries was retweeted hundreds of times when she posted a video of Remain protesters shouting down a counter-protester and used it as an excuse to call for Brexit.

“A disturbing sight,” she tweeted. “Remain fanatics targeting a leave voter. We need to Brexit soon and deliver on the vote. This has gone for far too long.”

However, Twitter users quickly responded that the “leave voter” concerned was Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, a far-right campaigner who supports Tommy Robinson.

The under-secretary of state for health and social care deleted the tweet around 24 hours after she posted it but has so far made no explanation of why she posted it and if she supports Tommo.