KENSINGTON Labour MP Emma Dent Coad has demanded that her Lib Dem election opponent Sam Gyimah apologise for his “lie” that she was partly to blame for the Grenfell Tower fire, after a threat was received at her campaign headquarters.

Ms Dent Coad tweeted that her campaign office had received its “first threat” of the general election campaign today – an anonymous voicemail claiming that she was “about to be arrested and charged.” She said some volunteers are afraid for her safety.

The Labour MP believes that the threat is related to comments made by Tory leadership hopeful turned Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Mr Gyimah that she is in some way culpable for the June 2017 fire, which killed 72 people.

Mr Gyimah said that, as a Labour councillor, Ms Dent Coad “was part of all the discussions that went on” regarding the cladding that was on Grenfell Tower.

In a rebuttal published in Tribune, she said: “This is quite simply a lie.

“Where Gyimah got his information from, I have no idea.

“But when misinformation brings death threats and the perpetrator refuses to correct the error or apologise — and others don’t bother to verify and repeat it — the lie spreads like a virus.”

When Ms Dent Coad’s parliamentary predecessor Victoria Borwick wrote an article in June 2017 accusing her of culpability for the fire, Ms Dent Coad received death threats and had to accept police protection.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: “This is an example of the worst form of Lib Dem politics – launching a smear campaign and putting another candidate at risk.

“Shame on you, Sam Gyimah.”