AN ONLINE petition calling for the resignation of Bradford West MP Naz Shah after an “accidental” retweet, has gained more than 32,000 signatures in two days.

It is petitioning Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and was started by Your Brexit group after Ms Shah ‘liked’ and ‘retweeted’ a tweet from what has since been identified as a fake Twitter account purporting to be columnist Owen Jones, who Ms Shah already follows.

The retweet in full reads: “RT @Owen_Jones84: @AreeqChowdhury @NazShahBfd Exactly Areeq, those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of #diversity!” It was dated August 15.

Ms Shah responded on Tuesday to a request from the T&A for an explanation. A spokesman said: “This was a genuine accident eight days ago that was rectified within minutes. To suggest otherwise is absolute nonsense.

“Her record speaks for itself. Naz has been working for over 20 years on the issues of child abuse, violence against women and grooming, which is well documented.

“She has and will continue to advocate for all victims, and work towards eradicating this evil from society.”

The retweet has prompted criticism online over recent days.

Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries tweeted earlier this week: “I was one of the first MPs to ever use Twitter. You don’t RT AND like by accident - We know how you feel and care for the abused girls. Go now.”

The petition, aiming to reach 35,000 signatures, reads: “Naz Shah MP: RESIGN or be SACKED after retweeting ‘abused girls should shut their mouths’.