Farage accused of resorting to Nazi-style propaganda

The UKIP leader was accused of mimicking Nazi propaganda after he unveiled the poster, which is captioned “The EU has failed us all”.

It also said: “We must break free from the EU to take back control of our borders”.

The photograph was taken in Slovenia in 2015 and shows people who have just crossed the Croatian-Slovenian border.

Remain politicians accused the UKIP leader of exploiting the misery of refugees in order to make the case for Brexit.

On twitter, some people pointed out the image’s similarities to Nazi propaganda of the 1930s, which was highlighted in a BBC documentary, currently showing on Netflix, which is titled: “Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution”.

After Mr Farage tweeted the poster, Nicola Sturgeon responded on the social media site saying: “This is disgusting”. The American playwright Bonnie Greer tweeted a copy of the poster alongside a quote from Nazi Hermann Goring with the hashtag Farage.“All you have to do it tell them they are being attacked. Works the same way in any country,” was the Goring quotation.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP for Pontefract and Castleford, who has campaigned on behalf of refugees, said: “Just when you thought leave campaigners couldn’t stoop any lower, they are now exploiting the misery of the Syrian refugee crisis in the most dishonest and immoral way.”

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Using the innocent victims of a human tragedy for political propaganda is utterly disgusting. Farage is engaging in the politics of the gutter.”

Neil Carmichael, the Conservative MP for Stroud, said: “It’s disappointing to see Ukip jumping on the refugee crisis to further their own political aims. Britain can only deal with the issue of immigration by working together with European countries that face the same challenges.”

Mr Farage unveiled the poster outside the EU’s headquarters in the UK in London. The poster vans then went on a tour of central London.

The UKIP leader attempted to defend the poster saying: “This is a photograph – an accurate, undoctored photograph – taken on 15 October last year following Angela Merkel’s call in the summer and, frankly, if you believe as I have always believed that we should open our hearts to genuine refugees, that’s one thing.

“But, frankly, as you can see from this picture, most of the people coming are young males and, yes, they may be coming from countries that are not in a very happy state, they may be coming from places that are poorer than us, but the EU has made a fundamental error that risks the security of everybody.”

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