Labour MP David Lammy defends comparing some Tory Brexiteers to Nazis

Prominent Labour MP David Lammy has defended comparing some Tory Brexiteers to Nazis.

The high-profile campaigner for a new Brexit referendum hit out at members of the European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs who have urged Prime Minister Theresa May to take a tougher stance on EU withdrawal.

Mr Lammy defended his views when asked on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show whether a comparison he previously made between the ERG and the Nazi Party and South African racists was unacceptable.

The Tottenham MP replied: “I would say that that wasn’t strong enough. In 1938 there were allies who hatched a plan for Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia, and Churchill said no, and he stood alone.

“We have, in the ERG, in Jacob Rees-Mogg, someone who is happy to put onto his web pages the horrible, racist AfD [Alternative for Germany] party, a party that’s Islamophobic and on the far right.”

Mr Lammy added: “They’re happy to use the phrase ‘grand wizard’. KKK is what it evokes to me when I think of that phrase and the Deep South.

“I’m sorry, but very, very seriously, of course we should not appease that, of course we should not appease that.”

Mr Rees-Mogg, who heads the ERG, Tweeted: “I feel sorry for Mr Lammy, comparing a Parliamentary ginger group with an organisation and creed that killed six million Jewish people makes him look foolish and his comments unbalanced. It damages his reputation.”

A Board of Deputies spokesperson said: “As we said at the time, Jacob Rees-Mogg was wrong to re-tweet a video promoting the AfD, and David Lammy is right to warn against the emergence of the far-right in modern Europe. However, we would urge politicians against invoking extreme and unhelpful comparisons with the Nazis.”

Earlier in April, Mr Rees-Mogg  provoked outrage after he promoted a video of a German far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, speaking in parliament.

The AfD are a German anti-immigration party, which supports a ban on religious circumcision and kosher slaughter.  They have previously been accused by the Central Council of Jews in Germany of “supporting anti-Jewish hate and Holocaust relativising or even denial.”

Rees-Mogg insisted: “No, I’m not supporting the AfD”, after being criticised for sharing footage of a speech by Alice Weidel, the co-leader speaking in parliament.

“I don’t think retweeting is an endorsement of things that other people stand for. It’s just pointing out that there’s something interesting which is worth watching.”

A Board of Deputies spokesperson criticised him at the time saying: “Jacob Rees-Mogg was wrong to re-tweet a video promoting a German far-right party”, while the CST also criticised him.