Past tweet emerges after solicitor briefly appeared in a televised BBC debate
A solicitor in the United Kingdom who asked a question during a televised Tory leadership debate was suspended by his firm after it emerged that he posted a sarcastic “Hitler” joke on Twitter.
Aman Thakar, a solicitor working at London firm Leigh Day, appeared in a televised BBC debate earlier this week, asking Conservative Party candidates when they would “do the right thing” and call a general election. But within hours of his appearance, it was revealed Thakar had previously posted a sarcastic joke about the legacy of Adolf Hitler on his Twitter account.
“Hitler’s abuse of the term nationalism is, to me a nationalist, the most harmful part of his legacy,” Thakur said on Twitter.
Thakar apologised for the tweet the next day, while his firm suspended him pending an internal investigation.
“We have been made aware of a tweet which we are taking very seriously,” Leigh Day said in a statement. “Mr Thakar has been suspended with immediate effect from the firm whilst we carry out an internal investigation into these matters.”
The suspension is keeping with new guidance on social media activity issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) earlier this year. The SRA said that it will start referring solicitors responsible for posts that demonstrate a lack of integrity to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for disciplinary action.
