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Nigel Farage attacked for Ukip poster showing queue of migrants Nigel Farage attacked for Ukip poster showing queue of migrants
(about 1 hour later)
Nigel Farage has defended a Ukip poster showing a huge queue of non-white migrants on the borders of the EU, after Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said it was disgusting. Nigel Farage has been accused of engaging in the “politics of the gutter” after launching a campaign poster depicting a long queue of refugees, with the slogan “Breaking point”.
Farage denied that the people shown, who were crossing between Croatia and Slovenia to a refugee camp, were fleeing terror in Syria. The advert, which has also appeared in the local press, shows a crowd of refugees walking along a road.
Dismissing suggestions that the poster was racist and exploited human misery, he insisted very few people who came into Europe last year would qualify as genuine refugees. 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.”
Related: What has the EU ever done for my … security?Related: What has the EU ever done for my … security?
Farage launched the poster with a tour through Westminster in a battlebus followed by 10 vans plastered with the image. Farage defended 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.
He claimed Islamic State were exploiting the migrant crisis to flood the continent with terrorists.
“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,” Farage said.
“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.”“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.”
When it was suggested to him that the people were refugees, he said: “You don’t know that. They are coming from all over the world. If you get back to the Geneva convention definition, you will find very few people that came into Europe last year would actually qualify as genuine refugees.” When it was suggested to him that the people were refugees, he said: “You don’t know that. They are coming from all over the world. If you get back to the Geneva convention definition, you will find very few people that came into Europe last year would actually qualify as genuine refugees.
“We have just had, in the last two weeks, the Dusseldorf bomb plot has been uncovered – a very, very worrying plan for mass attacks along the style of Paris or Brussels. All of those people came into Germany last year posing as refugees.“We have just had, in the last two weeks, the Dusseldorf bomb plot has been uncovered – a very, very worrying plan for mass attacks along the style of Paris or Brussels. All of those people came into Germany last year posing as refugees.
“When Isis say they will use the migrant crisis to flood the continent with their jihadi terrorists, they probably mean it.”“When Isis say they will use the migrant crisis to flood the continent with their jihadi terrorists, they probably mean it.”
Related: Cameron criticises former Tory leaders who question Bank over EU Farage has made a series of colourful interventions in the referendum campaign, including on Wednesday leading a flotilla of fishing boats up the Thames to Westminster to promote Brexit.
Farage said he was “feeling better about things than I was two weeks ago” regarding the prospect of victory for the campaign to leave the EU. 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.”
“The leave side now really are in with a very serious chance,” he said. “For years I have been considered some sort of nutcase who thinks we should leave the European Union and that nobody decent or respectable would ever take that view, and now we have people like [Michael] Gove and Boris [Johnson] and people on the Labour side as well so, of course, I have welcomed all of them.”
The Ukip leader said leave might have been polling even more strongly if the campaigns had worked together.
“I’ve not squabbled with anybody. I have said for a year I will work with anybody, from left, centre and right,” he said.