Green Party councillor compares Manchester bombing victims to people affected by AIR POLLUTION
Lesley Grahame said she was "putting the tragedy in context"
A GREEN Party politician compared the Manchester bomb atrocity to air pollution in a bizarre speech at a sombre event to mark the deaths of the 22 people killed in the terror attack.
Lesley Grahame said she was putting the deaths "in context" as she compared them to those killed by air pollution and refugees drowning in the Mediterranean sea.
She made the speech yesterday on the steps of City Hall in Norwich - during a time when election campaigning was supposed to be suspended, reports the
Ms Grahame said: “The Manchester tragedy could have happened anywhere – and we are told to expect it.
"It is a hate crime as outrageous as the accidental bombing of a wedding party because a drone interpreter got it wrong, or the 40,000 people who die every year in the UK because of air pollution, or the hundreds of people drowning trying to escape a conflict that makes the risk of crossing the Mediterranean a better option than staying in a conflict zone caused, at least in part, by climate-related hunger.
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“It is no disrespect to Manchester’s grieving families to put their tragedy into context.”
The Thorpe Hamlet councillor, who stood for election in Norwich South in 2015, apologised for the "clumsy" comments.
She said: “I would like to apologise if I have caused any offence.
"The bombing was a heinous crime and by mentioning the other things I am grieving for all people who die unnecessarily.
"I can see now that what I said was clumsy but it was meant with only love for the families.”
In 2008, the ardent activist was found guilty of trespassing and criminal damage when she cut through a fence and chained herself to a munitions compound at RAF Lakenheath, reports the .
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