Ukip candidate blames Syrian boy’s death on his parents: ‘queue jumping costs’

After a young Syrian child was photographed washed up dead on a Turkish beach, David Cameron has been the subject of much vitriol as members of the public and politicians alike urge him to do more to help refugees.

However, it is a former Ukip candidate who has attracted the most furore on the topic. Peter Bucklitsch, Ukip’s election candidate for Wimbledon, has taken to Twitter to claim that the boy’s parents are to blame for his death because they tried to take him to Europe.

Bucklitsch says three-year-old Aylan Kurdi was ‘well clothed and well fed’, and that he died because ‘his parents were greedy for the good life in Europe,’ adding that ‘queue jumping costs’:

Unsurprisingly his comments have been met with uproar online. Mr S has contacted a Ukip spokesman for comment, but has yet to hear back.

Update: Ukip has issued a statement distancing themselves from Bucklitsch: ‘Peter Bucklitsch is not a candidate or officer of the Party, and his opinions on social media in no way represent the views of party’.