
A Labour parliamentary candidate has sparked outrage by posing for a selfie at the exact spot where a crazed gunman massacred 38 holidaymakers including up to 30 Britons just 48 hours earlier.

Amran Hussain, 29, an Army reservist who stood for North East Hampshire in the recent election, was pictured holding his selfie stick aloft as he stood in front of a pile of flowers and tributes.

With the sun loungers where dozens of tourists were slaughtered by ISIS militant Seifeddine Rezgui clearly visible in the background, the former national delivery officer for NHS England looked directly at the camera in aviator-style sunglasses surrounded by four friends.

The politician, who has been pictured with Ed Miliband, has now defended his actions saying he visited Marhaba beach in Sousse to pay his ‘respects’ and pointing out selfies are not 'banned'.

Labour parliamentary candidate Amran Hussain, 29, (centre) has sparked outrage by posing for a selfie at the exact spot where a crazed gunman massacred 38 holidaymakers

The former senior NHS England officer, who has been pictured with Ed Miliband, said he said he visited the beach to pay his ‘respects’

Mr Hussain told MailOnline: 'Selfies are not banned. I don’t see anything wrong with it. We were not capturing a happy moment, we were very distressed after what happened and we went down to the beach for 30 minutes to show solidarity.

‘We laid flowers and wrote a tribute and prayed to those who lost their lives in the horrific massacre.

‘We would have asked someone else to take a picture of us, but we were in the moment and we wanted to take a picture with the tribute and flowers we had put down.

'It has been taken completely out of context. It was all very upsetting and we just wanted to have a reminder of what happened. I just happened to be using a selfie stick as that is what I always use.'

Hundreds have taken to Twitter to condemn the 'disgusting' picture, saying it sums up the 'selfie or selfish generation'.

Alice Simmonds said: 'Absolutely shameless for a Labour candidate. He should know better.'

Michael Wilton tweeted: 'This is a disgrace. The families haven't event started grieving.'

With the sun loungers where dozens tourists were slaughtered clearly visible in the background, the former NHS worker looked directly at the camera in aviator-style sunglasses surrounded by four friends

Mr Hussain is also a serving soldier in the British Army Reserves and sits on an independent monitoring board member for prisons

The Labour candidate, who was brought up in the East-End of London in council housing, was defeated in the May election by a staggering majority and received just 5,290 votes

Mr Hussain was on a week-long holiday with four friends, who are also pictured in the selfie, and they were all staying at the nearby Hotel Palmarina.

He said he did not witness the tragedy, but one of his friends heard shots from their hotel balcony.

The politician has now arrived back in the UK and wrote on Facebook, saying: 'We left Tunisia with a very heavy heart, but we will not allow terror to dictate our lives. Tunisia is a beautiful place with kind and peaceful people.

‘We went out onto our hotel beach today and paid our respects to those who lost their lives.

‘My thoughts shall remain for years with all those lives that were lost there, and also for the millions of struggling Tunisian families whose household income would be affected due to the negative effect on their tourism industry.

‘This is what the terrorists wanted and we must not give in I shall of course return back to Tunisia.’

The Labour candidate, who was brought up in the East-End of London in council housing, was defeated in the May election by a staggering majority and received just 5,290 votes compared to victorious Conservative candidate Ranil Jayawardena's 35,573 votes.

Mr Hussain said he visited Marhaba beach in Sousse to pay his ‘respects’, lay flowers and write a tribute (pictured)

The politician was staying at the nearby Hotel Palmarina and said he has not yet taken off his entry wrist band (pictured)

Mr Hussain is also a serving soldier in the British Army Reserves and sits on an independent monitoring board member for prisons and a school governor.

His actions on the memorial site have been slammed by hundreds on social media.

Jerome Taylor ‏tweeted: 'This sums up the selfie generation. Tourist takes a pic next to site of the massacre in Sousse, Tunisia.'

Davide Manfrin said: 'Selfie of the massacre on the beach in Tunisia. Idiots, don't they understand our fate is hanging by a thread.'

Rabeb Othmani tweeted: 'There is a fine line between freedom of expression & hurting others feelings: Stop posting the beach selfies #Tunisia'

Mark Olrog ‏said: 'A bad 21st century trait. People turning up and taking selfies of #Tunisia terror beach, apparently.'

Dozens of people gathered at the beach 48 hours after ISIS militant Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on helpless tourists.

Defiant, the group carried flags across the sand that was splattered with blood on Friday before placing flowers and tribute letters near the sunbeds where the attack happened.

Others bowed their heads in silence as they placed books and signs at the scene, including a poignant one that simply read: 'Why they die?'

Heartless tourists have sparked outrage by posing for selfies at the exact spot where a crazed gunman slaughtered 38 holidaymakers

Tourists and locals in Tunisia took to the beach this morning to take part in a memorial for the victims of Friday's terrifying massacre

Survivors weep on the beach in Sousse where 38 were slaughtered on Friday in the horrific terror attack

The memorial came after protesters marched through the Sousse streets last night, clutching banners saying 'Sousse will never die' and waving British and Tunisian flags

The memorial came after thousands of Tunisians gathered in the streets of Sousse last night to hold a candlelit protest against the barbaric bloodbath.

Waving banners reading 'no to terrorism' and unfurling British and Tunisian flags in a show of unity, they came together close to where murderer Seifeddine Rezgui launched his killing spree.

Most of the protesters were outside the Imperial Marhaba hotel, one of the resorts targeted by the 23-year-old assassin.

The citizens of Sousse chanted and lit candles as a tribute to the dead, which include at least 15 Britons.

One said: 'What happened (on Friday) does not represent Tunisia. We are sorry for the families, the victims, they are our guests.'

Dozens of people gathered at the scene in Sousse just 48 hours after a gunman opened fire, killing 38 including 15 Britons

In a show of solidarity, the group carried flags across the sand before placing huge bunches of flowers and tributes on the sand

Five tourists read the touching tributes left for the victims, which were laid in front of the sunbeds many of the victims had been using

Others bowed their heads as they walked past the tribute in silence to pay their final respects to those who were killed

Two of the moving notes - written on blank paper in blue ink - simply read: 'We will never forget you all' and 'Why they die?'

Mourning: Holidaymakers visit the spot near the hotel where dozens were killed by the terrorist in a noon attack

Demonstrators also congregated in the Tunisian capital of Tunis to show their support for the tourist sunseekers who were gunned down.

The beach bloodbath on Friday, timed to coincide with the Muslim festival of Ramadan and co-ordinated by Islamic State, left at least 38 people dead.

Witness accounts say Rezgui was seen laughing and joking among the midday bathers, looking like any other tourist. But he was actually carefully picking out the victims he would murder with a Kalashnikov hidden in his parasol.

After he opened fire, he rampaged up the beach, past the pool and into the Imperial Marhaba Hotel. He then emerged onto the streets of Sousse where rooftop snipers lay in wait.

Last night, a woman lit a candle during a rally in front of the Hotel Imperial Marhaba in Sousse, one of the resorts targeted by Rezgui

Tunisians in the capital of Tunis chanted and waved their national flag to show their disgust at Friday's terrorist attack on tourists

Tourists and locals alike light candles in a show of defiance following the terrorist attack that left at least 15 Britons dead

A boy holds a candle and flowers as he attends a protest to condemn the attack by Rezgui, a 23-year-old aviation student

A local woman holds a candle in a show of unity in Sousse - a banner behind her reads 'No to Terrorism'

He slipped into a side street to avoid the bullets raining down on him and stopped outside a housing development belonging to Mayel Moncef, 56.

As he avoided a hail of bullets, he dropped to his knees in prayer, allowing a grenade to roll from his hand and into the gutter.

Mr Moncef then picked up a stack of terracotta roof tiles and threw it on the head of the gunman, causing him to stumble. He walked a few yards before a local policeman shot him dead.

'I put two bullets in him. I haven't slept since', he said.

His murderous rampage on the crowded Tunisian beachfront at El Kantaoui near Sousse, killed 38 - with 36 seriously wounded.

The British were his prime targets and at least 15 have been confirmed dead.

Demonstrates unfurl their national flag as they congregate in the streets of Sousse after the tourist attack on the beach hotel

In Tunis, local residents wave their national flag in a show of strength following Friday's terrorist attack that killed at least 38

People gather together to light candles in Sousse in the wake of Friday's attack that ISIS claimed it was behind

A boy arranges candles on a fence in front of the Hotel Imperial Marhaba in Sousse - one of the resorts targeted by Rezgui

The worst terror attack in Tunisia's history came on the same day a man was found decapitated after an attack by suspected Islamic extremists on a French factory, and a Shia mosque in Kuwait was bombed, killing at least 25 people.

Although the atrocities do not appear to be directly linked, they came after ISIS called of their followers to 'make Ramadan a month of calamities for the non-believers'.

Tension has been high in Tunisia since an attack on the National Bardo Museum in March which killed 22 people, mostly foreign tourists, including one Briton.

Previously, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a failed attack on the beach in Sousse in October 2013.

Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi said yesterday: 'Once again, cowardly and traitorous hands have struck Tunisia, targeting its security and that of its children and visitors.'

People gather for a candle light rally in solidarity with the victims of a deadly attack on the Imperial Marhabada hotel, in Sousse