Labour MP David Lammy has divided the internet by defending remarks which appeared to compare hardline Brexiteer conservatives to Nazis and advocates of South African apartheid.
Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show, Lammy was played a video of remarks he made last month at a People’s Vote march for a second referendum. At the time, he said:
I’m just looking over there at Winston Churchill.
On the 30 September 1938 he stood in parliament and said we would not appease Hitler. I’m looking across to Neslon Mandela, who would not give in to apartheid.
We say, we will not give into the ERG. Will not appease.
Lammy was asked whether the remarks were an “unacceptable comparison”, to which he replied:
I would say that it wasn’t strong enough.
We must not appease. We're in a situation now, and let me just be clear, I'm an ethnic minority. We have, in the ERG, in Jacob Rees-Mogg, someone who is happy to put on to his web pages the horrible, racist AfD party, a party that's Islamophobic and on the far right.
I'm sorry, but very, very seriously, of course we should not appease that, of course we should not appease that.
Brexiteer Rees-Mogg was condemned for quoting the leader of the far-right German party, the AfD. Last year the party called for “Islam-free schools”.
When Marr suggested that Lammy’s comments compared senior Tories like Boris Johnson to Nazis, he said:
Ask Boris Johnson why he's hanging out with Steve Bannon.
On Twitter, people were divided about the comments. Many threw their support behind Lammy.
I will never back down from calling out links to the extreme right. We must not appease or concede ground, we mus… https://t.co/jaMMwrP6mW— David Lammy (@David Lammy) 1555239492
When white middle aged men just sweep aside @DavidLammy like this I fear we lack humility to see what it is like, b… https://t.co/FsTDNbEdtN— David Yelland (@David Yelland) 1555239454
This was a tremendous performance by @DavidLammy on #Marr His refusal to back down over condemning the fascist lan… https://t.co/02lBKRHQ5T— Green💚Molly (@Green💚Molly) 1555246434
I’m pretty sure that every emergence of fascism was accompanied by millions of decent people being sceptical about… https://t.co/1vOonANrJ2— James Oh Brien (@James Oh Brien) 1555242623
What a breath of fresh air @DavidLammy is. His interview on #Marr is honest, straight-talking and engaging. He is a… https://t.co/2TECcdoY4S— Kirsty Strickland (@Kirsty Strickland) 1555235127
David Lammy was correct. Appeasing the far right always ends in tears https://t.co/as1Why2IuW— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew Adonis) 1555248395
Whereas others condemned his comments.
Wow, I just watched David Lammy basically call BoJo a white supremacist, compare the Tories to KKK and fascism, the… https://t.co/AOX5q9QuTr— Charlotte Gill (@Charlotte Gill) 1555236594
As someone who voted to Remain I think David Lammy is doing a massive disservice to the Remain cause. His attitude… https://t.co/eJMh1MCpFE— Shahil Parmar (@Shahil Parmar) 1555234945
This #Labour MP, David Lammy, compares the #Nazi holocaust - the systematic murder of 6 million Jews + 3 million ga… https://t.co/ytVwHidHRR— Michael Fabricant 🇬🇧 (@Michael Fabricant 🇬🇧) 1555247364
David Lammy makes Nigel Farage seem like a great unifier https://t.co/9KenaH7Zw1— Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧 (@Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧) 1555241439
H/T: Independent