He said that he saw them while canvassing and that the individual holding the poster was shouting at him from the other side of the street.

Mackervaie told BuzzFeed News he spoke about how much they were earning a day: "I laughed myself silly when he said £6.50 a day.

"I just think they were on a wind-up when they saw several of us from Labour canvassing the same street."

However, the man holding the poster, Abdirachid Fidow, denied to BuzzFeed News that any such claim had been made.

He said: "Labour is so bad and they are losing their core traditional supporters because some members of Labour party office in Acton think they have [a] monopoly over [minorities]."

Fidow said that the claims were offensive and racist. He added. "He is saying that Somalis get involved in politics to get paid."

Since the photo was taken, Ali said that they had received online abuse from Labour supporters.

