NICK Clegg has branded Bradford MP David Ward “stupid” because of his comments about the Paris atrocities, plunging their relations to a new low.

The Liberal Democrat leader revealed his anger about his most outspoken MP, who tweeted ‘Je Suis Palestinian’ on the day of the huge rally to commemorate the 17 people killed.

The comment sparked a protest by the Israeli Embassy because the victims included four French Jews, who had been held hostage in a kosher supermarket.

Mr Ward also said the presence of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu - just five months after more than 2,000 Palestinians died in the Gaza conflict – “makes me feel sick”.

On his weekly radio show, Mr Clegg argued the Bradford East MP’s comments were not racist, so he had rejected Israeli calls to sack him from his party.

But he made clear that Mr Ward does not speak for the Lib Dems on the Israel-Palestine issue – pointing out he had been suspended over past remarks on Twitter.

And he said: “What David Ward did was crass, was stupid, was insensitive, was offensive, clearly.”

Criticising Netanyahu’s presence in Paris was also wrong, Mr Clegg said – although it has been reported that the French President attempted to stop him attending.

Mr Ward said he was “surprised and disappointed” by his leader’s attack, saying there had been no such strong criticism in a private meeting with the Lib Dem whip.

He said: “They are not happy with anything that brings criticism to the Liberal Democrats, but they defend my right of free speech and to make these comments

“Then they say I’m crass and stupid when I do that.”

The MP said other people had “suffered” for criticising Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians, adding: “I’m not the first – and I won’t be the last.”

The party whip was withdrawn from Mr Ward for two months in July 2013, after he posted a tweet calling Israel an “apartheid state” and saying that “Zionists were losing the battle”.

It followed a long-running dispute with the Lib Dem leadership over earlier comments he made about “the Jews” who were “inflicting atrocities on Palestinians”.

Mr Clegg also clashed with Mr Ward after he launched a blistering attack on his own party, warning life was increasingly desperate for poor people in his constituency.

The Lib Dem leader said the Bradford East MP was “totally wrong” to urge his party to apologise for helping to plunge more people below the breadline.

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