Are the Tories trying to trash their reputation in London?

Shaun Bailey pulled off an amazing trick this week: he managed to unite Twitter. Left and right, Tory and Labour, Remainer and Brexiteer, all piled into a wondrously crass post by the Tory London mayoral candidate:

‘As a father and husband it breaks me to think that my wife and daughter have to live in fear in their own city. It doesn’t have to be this way. As Mayor, I‘ll ensure that we are working to deliver for the safety of women and girls in London.’

The message would have been in poor taste no matter what the timing. After all, why make crime in London about himself and his family? But coming at a time when a young woman had vanished from the streets of the capital, it looked like Bailey was making a bid to cash in politically on the tragedy.

If this had been the first blemish in an otherwise well-run mayoral campaign, Bailey could be forgiven.