WATCH: Labour MP David Lammy says comparison between hard Brexiteers and Nazis 'not strong enough'

Emilio Casalicchio

A Labour MP has argued his comparison between hardcore Brexiteers and Nazis was “not strong enough”.



David Lammy doubled down after he told supporters of a second EU referendum that Tory MPs in the European Research Group should not be “appeased” in the same way Churchill refused to appease Hitler.

He pointed to ERG chair Jacob Rees-Mogg sharing online a speech by a far right German party and the meeting between Boris Johnson and controversial former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon.

Asked on the BBC Andrew Marr show this morning if his comments at the rally went too far, the Tottenham MP argued: “I would say I was not strong enough.”

He added: “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 is Islamophobic and on the far right of the German system.”

Mr Lammy noted reports that ERG members had taken to calling themselves “grand wizards” - arguing: “KKK is what it evokes to me when I think of that phrase, and the deep south.”

He added: “I am sorry but very seriously of course we should not appease that, of course we should not appease that.”

And he went on: “I don’t care how elected they are - so was the far right in Germany. They are often elected, often giving a cover for the thugs on the ground.

“When people are experiencing rising hate and extremism in this country we must not concede ground, we must fight it and call it out for what it is.”

#Marr: "That was an unacceptable comparison, wasn't it?"



Lammy: "Andrew, I would say that that wasn't strong enough"



Labour MP David Lammy defends his choice of language around the Conservative Party’s ERG#Brexit https://t.co/5C4rTzDIKd pic.twitter.com/5xghQ9oLIE — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 14, 2019

ERG chair Jacob Rees-Mogg told PoliticsHome: "Mr Lammy lessens his arguments by the use of such foolish language. It trivialises any comments he may make."

Asked about the comments by Mr Lammy by this site, ERG deputy chair Steve Baker added: "God bless and forgive him."

And Tory MP Michael Fabricant fumed: "David Lammy is, of course, the fool who blamed his lack of promotion on his colour rather than his distinct lack of talent."

Mr Lammy also reserved some fire for the Labour party and its anti-semitism crisis, which he said was a “stain” and a “failure of leadership”.