SOCIAL media has once again proved to be a risky medium for politicians as they fail to grasp the need to watch what they say.
The latest member of parliament to fall foul of the networks has been Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford West David Ward who demonstrated his poor judgement with tweets relating to the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Mr Ward has garnered condemnation for tweeting: ""The big question is - if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? - probably yes," and, "Ich bin ein #palestinian - the West must make up its mind - which side is it on?"
A spokesman for the Labour Party said: "At a time when all sides should be working for a ceasefire and a peaceful settlement, it defies belief that a Liberal Democrat MP should tweet something so vile and irresponsible."
Meanwhile in a carefully worded statement a Liberal Democrat spokesman distanced the party from Mr Ward's statement.
"David has previously overstepped the mark with repugnant language.
"We fully support his right to campaign on behalf of the Palestinian people, but these views are clearly vile, crass and offensive."
Israel's actions in Gaza has drawn international attention as the civilian death toll mounts from air strikes and the ground offensive. More than 630, mostly civilian, Palestinians have died in the fighting as Isarel's attacks become ever more disproportionate and bloody, compared to approximately 20 Israeli soldiers and two civilian casualties.
Mr Ward is not the first MP to come under fire for expressing ill thought through views on social media networks. Last month Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant found himself at the centre of a twitter storm after posting that if he had been debating female journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown he might end up "punching her in the throat".
In both cases Tory Chairman Grant Shapps has been quick to ensure that the Conservative party is not implicated in the personal views expressed. Speaking after Mr Ward's tweet Mr Shapps was reported as saying: "No MP should tweet what's essentially incitement to violence. Completely irresponsible."
In response to Mr Fabricant's comment he said: "I don’t think it was appropriate. I think it is absolutely right that he apologised. Sometimes on Twitter people shoot from the hip and then repent as appropriate. I don’t think what he said was appropriate and it is not the first time I have thought that.
“That is why I let him go earlier in the year from the post of vice-chancellor.”
For officials of all parties social media is providing a headache which they had never planned for. Whereas once statements could be carefully crafted and thought through the immediate access to thousands of people proves just too much of a draw for some politicians. While it may provide the electorate with a better idea of who they are voting for it has a tendency to cloud issues and divert attention from the official line. For many MP's social media is a strange and unforgiving place, if they are to survive they need to fall back on their old standards and treat every post as an on the record sound bite, otherwise their careers make become little more than a hashtag of history.
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