The man accused of threatening a suicide bombing as he stormed an office on Tottenham Court Road was a candidate for the British National Party, Hope Not Hate have revealed. The news leave Nick Griffin with egg on his face — after the BNP leader used the incident to make jokes about Muslim extremists.

In tweets highlighted by Political Scrapbook, griffin said:

“Tottenham Court Road hostage situation. I bought my copy of the Koran there back in 2OO1.”

“If hostage taker angry coz refused HGV licence then won’t be a Muslim bomber. They don’t work!”

“Police say hostage taker is ‘mentally unstable’. No shit, Sherlock!”

The Hertfordshire Mercury profiled suspect Michael Green when he stood for the Stevenage constituency in 2010 — losing his £500 deposit with just 2.3% of the vote.

To compound the irony, Soho nail bomber David Copeland had also been a card-carrying BNP member.