A VIOLENT depiction of Tony Abbott with a bloody cutthroat razor at his neck on the front page of a radical socialist newspaper was condemned yesterday by Labor and Liberal politicians, who called for it to be withdrawn.

Australian Liberal Students Federation spokesman Matthew Lesh said the image was more extreme than any public abuse directed at Ms Gillard and could even lead to violence against Mr Abbott and government members from extreme fringe groups.

“This is the same group who have already organised very con­frontational protests on campus and forced a lot of senior ministers to need a security detail at all times,” Mr Lesh said.

“I was shocked by what the Socialist Alternative is promoting in its paper and I think it shows what we’ve known all along: these people try and take the most extreme, reprehensible and disgusting approach to politics. It gives justification to fringe elements to push for further attacks.”

This article was originally published in The Australian, July 1 2014.