The distressing and shocking image of the body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi face down on a beach have sparked calls for Europe to redouble its efforts to deal with the ongoing refugee crisis.

Aylan, his brother Galip and their mother Rehan all drowned in an attempted crossing to the Greek island of Kos, after the boat they were in sank. Their father, Abdullah, survived, but in total the incident claimed 12 lives. 

Today, former UKIP parliamentary candidate Peter Bucklitsch tweeted out his take on the tragedy, saying that Aylan died because his "parents were greedy" and trying to jump the queue.

After sending the message, he got a lot of backlash online, but called it "predictable unthinking outrage", saying that "turkey is not a place where the family was in danger. Leaving that safe place put the family in peril". 

However, he has since deleted his Twitter account.