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Dudley MP Ian Austin said sorry after posting a tweet about former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from the party after making controversial comments that offended Jews.

Mr Austin said he never meant to make light of Holocaust victims and admitted the attempted gag was in “bad taste”.

His tweet had been sent after Mr Livingstone defended suspended Labour MP Naz Shah after anti-Semitic comments she made online were unearthed.

In the tasteless message Mr Austin compared the Labour stalwart with Adolf Hitler.

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He said: “This row about Ken Livingstone & Hitler is so unfair.

“One was a horrible extremist obsessed with Jews. The other was leader of Nazi Germany.”

There was an immediate backlash against the tweet, with political commentator Owen Jones saying: “A genuinely sick tweet that belittles the horror of Nazism and the mass murder of millions of people.”

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Mr Austin said: “I accept what I said was not in the best of taste.

“I accept too that some people were genuinely offended and I’m sorry if what I said upset them.