A Liberal Democrat peer has likened post-Brexit Britain to Nazi Germany in controversial remarks in the House of Lords.

Lord Greaves said he feared EU nationals could be targeted on 31 January - the day the UK will leave the bloc - and in the period afterwards in a way that was “reminiscent of things happening in Germany in the early 1930s”.

During a debate on the government’s Brexit bill, he said there had been “widespread” verbal abuse of EU nationals in the aftermath of the 2016 Leave vote and a rise in racially motivated attacks.

“The day after the referendum, people had their windows put in, people were abused in the street, paint was daubed on people’s houses, that kind of thing,” he said. “I am very worried that on the 1st February and 2nd February there will be a wave of this kind of thing…

“I am fearful on the 31st January that some things may happen in some places which could be reminiscent of things happening in Germany in the early 1930s. I am worried because there is that sentiment among a hostile minority of the population and I’d like to know what the government is trying to stop this happening.”

He said he was concerned that “triumphalistic” events being planned to celebrate Brexit would make life even more difficult for the three million or so European nationals living in the UK, who were already experiencing feelings of loss akin to “bereavement”.

He was challenged by Labour peer Lord Grocott, who said his colleague was “stretching the point just a bit” and the comparison with the Nazis’ crackdown on Jewish people, minority groups and political opponents after they came to power had left him “reeling”.

But Lord Greaves stood by his remarks about the hostility faced by EU nationals, adding “I am not making this up, it is happening.”