A former Labour peer has led the backlash against Guardian columnist Ash Sarkar over her ‘grotesque’ tweets about the missing Titanic tourist submarine victims.
The columnist, 31, who wrote 23 articles for the Guardian, used the tragedy to suggest the rich should be taxed more.
Writing to her 400,000 followers on Twitter, she wrote: ‘If the super-rich can spend £250,000 on vanity jaunts 2.4 miles beneath the ocean then they’re not being taxed enough.’
In response, Former Labour MP Lord Ian Austin, who sits as an independent in the Lords, replied: ‘Look how this virtuous caring communist reacts as five human beings – including a teenager – might be gasping their last breaths and suffering an awful fate.
‘And the hard left wonder why people don’t vote for them.’
It comes as five people are currently missing on the vanished vessel, Titan – with its vital oxygen tank having run out just after 12pm today.
Ash Sarkar, 31, (pictured) has sparked outrage on social media following an ‘utterly grotesque’ tweet about the missing Titanic tourist submarine victims
In a tweet to her 400,000 followers, the columnist said the rich are not being taxed enough
Former Labour MP Lord Ian Austin said: ‘Look how this virtuous caring communist reacts as five human beings – including a teenager – might be gasping their last breaths and suffering an awful fate’
Lord Ian Austin (right), pictured with Prince William, disagreed with Ash Sarkar’s comments on the Titanic submarine tragedy
She added: ‘The Titanic submarine is a modern morality tale of what happens when you have too much money, and the grotesque inequality and sympathy, attention and aid for those without it’
In response to Ms Sarkar, fellow Guardian columnist Ariane Sherine rejected the views
Since receiving backlash on social media, Ms Sarkar also wrote: ‘The Titanic submarine is a modern morality tale of what happens when you have too much money, and the grotesque inequality and sympathy, attention and aid for those without it.
‘Migrants are ”meant” to die at sea; billionaire’s aren’t.’
Disagreeing with this tweet, fellow-Guardian writer Ariane Sherine replied: ‘I’m not sure this is entirely true. The reason the news has been all about the submarine is the fact that (a) they could still be alive and (b) time was running out.
‘Everyone cared about the Thai boys stuck in the cave and they were poor. Sadly the migrants were already deceased.’
Other Twitter users have slammed Ms Sarkar’s comments, with one critic labelling her post as ‘vile’.
GB News commentator and former Brexit Party MEP Martin Daubney said: ‘What an utterly grotesque tweet. People are likely about to die and Ash Sarkar makes this about rich people paying more tax? Have a day off, love.’
Another person responded: ‘The youngest is just 19.’
YouTuber Mahyar Tousi said: ‘Evil and heartless tweet purely based on envy and hate.’
Ms Sarkar also suggested the missing, one of whom is 19-years-old, are arrogant due to the amount they were willing to pay for the tourist experience.
‘I have enormous pity for what must be a terrifying experience, and should the worst have happened, an awful way to die,’ she wrote.
‘I have absolutely no time for the arrogance of the endeavour, both on the part of OceanGate and the billionaires who paid for their services.’
It comes after the columnist triggered outrage in May after branding Britain’s monarchy a ‘cartel of some very weird people’ that is ‘neither fair nor representative’.
Ash Sarkar, senior editor at Novara Media, tore into the Royal Family in her latest controversial broadside against the Firm – just days before King Charles’s coronation.
Ms Sarkar has since defended herself on Twitter following the backlash she received
The Titan, a tourist submersible which runs $250,000 tours of the doomed Titanic ship and is operated by OceanGate Expeditions, has been underwater since 8am on Sunday with five people on board
Writing to her 400,000 followers on Twitter, she wrote: ‘If the super-rich can spend £250,000 on vanity jaunts 2.4 miles beneath the ocean then they’re not being taxed enough’
Ms Sarker has posted a string of tweets in response to the Titantic tourist submarine tragedy
The journalist, who previously called for Britain’s national anthem to be replaced with a ‘grime banger’, said young people interested in the ‘values of fairness and representation’ were increasingly becoming turned off by the royals.
‘Whatever way you slice it, the monarchy is neither a fair nor representative institution,’ Ms Sarkar told BBC’s Newsnight on Tuesday.
‘There have been attempts by the Royal Family to strip themselves of some of the mystery, invite the media in and show the public what they really do. And what they’ve revealed themselves to be is a cartel of some very weird people.’
MailOnline has contacted the Guardian for comment.
