BARROW MP John Woodcock has been accused of bullying after he threatened to report alleged anti-Semitic posts made on Facebook by a Barrow man.

Mr Woodcock posted screengrabs and comments on his own Facebook page yesterday after a heated debate about the Holocaust.

The Barrow MP has come under fire after making the post, in which he alleges anti-Semitic comments were made by a Barrow man. He now plans to report the posts to police.

In his post, the MP said: "Getting a bit of grief is par for the course on social media these days but I am taking the highly unusual step of asking people to have nothing to do with this man, a selection of whose posts I have attached here.

"As you will see, his wild smears about Jews and Holocaust denial clearly show he is an anti-Semite. Holocaust denial - saying that the death of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis was invented - is one of the worst forms of race hatred practised by the far right. It is rightly outlawed in Germany.

"I am reporting this vile anti-Semitic hatred to Facebook and the police. Please consider doing the same if you see similar examples."

A number of people have spoken out to defend the man who posted the comments.

One woman, Natasha Owen, said: "Wow, reporting him to the police because he doesn't agree with your views and he is no racist! If you knew him as a person and listened to what he says you'll see he's a well-respected, loved man who can back up all his views and claims."

Mr Woodcock defended the way he had highlighted the posts.

He told the Evening Mail: "There are unfortunately many people who go out of their way to be offensive towards people in public office on Twitter and Facebook but I have never before taken this step with anyone.

"It is sick and potentially incites hatred towards Jews to pedal the disgusting lie that the gas chambers were invented to make the Nazis look bad."