
A Brexiteer Tory MP is being called out after he made inaccurate claims about Europe and Britain after the Second World War.
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury claimed that there was "no Marshall Plan for us only for Germany," in reference to American payments of some £12bn approved in 1948 to rebuild Europe following the war.
He said:
Britain helped to liberate half of Europe. She mortgaged herself up to the eye balls in process. No Marshall Plan for us only for Germany. We gave up war reparations in 1990. We put £370 billion into EU since we joined. Watch the way ungrateful EU treats us now. We will remember.
Britain helped to liberate half of Europe. She mortgaged herself up to eye balls in process. No Marshall Plan for u… https://t.co/flLtTzSLSr— Daniel Kawczynski (@Daniel Kawczynski) 1549123282
There's just one problem with that: It's incorrect.
Thousands of people took to Twitter to correct him.
Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: "Is this a parody account?
Britain received billions from the Marshall Plan and significantly more than West Germany or any other nation. Pick up a history book and you will learn that this brand of jingoistic nationalism is what tore our continent apart twice in one century.
"Oh my god," Mike Robbins wrote. "Britain was the largest single recipient from the Marshall Plan, receiving 26 per cent - more than a third more than Germany!"
@DKShrewsbury Oh my God... Britain was the largest single recipient from the Marshall Plan, receiving 26% - more t… https://t.co/sTa7RFxlka— Mike Robbins (@Mike Robbins) 1549127378
English military historian Corelli Barnett revealed just how wrong Kawczynski's position is. In a fact file for the BBC, he wrote:
Britain actually received more than a third more Marshall Aid than west Germany. She in fact pocketed the largest share of any European nation. The truth is that the post-war Labour Government, advised by its resident economic pundits, freely chose not to make industrial modernisation the central them in her use of Marshall Aid.
People are calling him out
@DKShrewsbury @BBCPropaganda You are a moron as well as a traitor. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking… https://t.co/lv3lg4mEmA— 🏴☠️ (@🏴☠️) 1549126080
@DKShrewsbury We were the largest recipient of Marshall Plain aid by a mile. 30s google would tell you that. You ar… https://t.co/HBmOnAEt5k— Neil W suffering Evertonian (@Neil W suffering Evertonian) 1549128983
His claims are so inaccurate, some people are wondering if he's joking
And others provided a visual aid to demonstrate just how wrong he is
@DKShrewsbury Marshall Plan assistance by country. https://t.co/9C7XNpfqfm https://t.co/ysCksb90nU— Property Spotter (@Property Spotter) 1549130181
It's pretty embarrassing...
@_paullay @DKShrewsbury I suggest you subscribe to History Today, Daniel.— Dr. Bendor Grosvenor (@Dr. Bendor Grosvenor) 1549135037
So, I'm trying to figure out if UK MP @DKShrewsbury is simply lying here, or if he is really this ignorant about hi… https://t.co/X5jFVrpsCE— Andrew Stroehlein (@Andrew Stroehlein) 1549134820
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