Brexit Party candidate denies dressing up like a Nazi for heavy metal band The Brexit Party has stood by a candidate who is under fire over his involvement in a Luftwaffe-inspired metal band.

The Brexit Party will not drop a candidate who is part of a heavy metal band inspired by the Luftwaffe.

Dr Graham Cushway, the party’s candidate in Brighton Kemptown, has faced questions after it was revealed that he is a heavy metal guitarist for Stuka Squadron, a band billing themselves as “the greatest metal act consisting entirely of undead pilots of the Luftwaffe the world has ever seen.”

Incumbent Labour politician Lloyd Russell-Moyle seized upon the revelation, telling PoliticsHome: “It is pretty abhorrent to appear in a Luftwaffe heavy metal tribute band and to dress up as a Nazi.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

“Graham says to me that it was a parody but I don’t find it funny and I don’t think voters will either.

“Yet again the Brexit Party selects someone with a dodgy past and he now should be considering his position.”

Fantasy vampires

Dr Cushway denied that he dresses up like a Nazi, saying that the band has a “complex backstory in which we were vampires who were also Luftwaffe pilots.”

A statement on Stuka Squadron’s Facebook page said: “The band’s look is NOT intended to portray the SS or any other specific military unit from any era.

“It is the uniform of a fantasy unit existing in an imaginary universe in which vampires played a significant role in World War II.”

Although band members have been photographed wearing Iron Crosses, skulls and SS insignia, the band said that such items are “commonly worn by heavy metal bands” and that “any appearance of genuine World War II-era symbols on accessories… is purely accidental and the result of random early purchases.”

‘Happy to stand by’ candidate

The Brexit Party defended Dr Cushway, an army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan,

A spokesperson said: “He’s fought in two wars and he’s quite a successful metal guitarist.

“To suggest that he is in any way associated with that which people are trying to associate him with is just silly.”

The spokesperson added: “You have to draw a distinction between art and life. The Brexit Party is happy to stand behind Dr Cushway and his candidature – though maybe not his taste in music.”

However, anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate said that the band “has engaged in a deeply inappropriate fetishization of the Third Reich,” questioning lyrics about “racial war.”

Hope Not Hate added: “It says a lot about Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party that they consider an individual who dresses up as a Nazi vampire a suitable candidate for political office. It’s clear they don’t take voters seriously.”

Additional reporting by Press Association