This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/20/sayeeda-warsi-quits-leave-campaign-over-hateful-xenophobic-tactics

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Sayeeda Warsi quits Leave campaign over 'hateful, xenophobic' tactics Sayeeda Warsi quits leave campaign over 'hateful, xenophobic' tactics
(35 minutes later)
Sayeeda Warsi, the former chair of the Conservative party, has announced she will no longer support the campaign to leave the European Union, accusing it of “hate and xenophobia”, days before the referendum. Sayeeda Warsi, the former chair of the Conservative party, has said she will no longer support the campaign to leave the European Union just days before the referendum, accusing it of “hate and xenophobia”.
Warsi, told the Times she had decided to “leave Leave” because of a poster launched ahead of Thursday’s vote. Warsi said the positive case for leaving the EU had been neglected by the official campaign, though leading leave campaigners have denied she was ever an active participant in the campaign.
“Why is it people like me, instinctively Eurosceptic who feel the EU needs reform... feel they now have to leave leave?” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday. “Because day after day what are we hearing? The refugees are coming, the rapists are coming, the Turks are coming.”
Related: Richard Branson starts his own campaign to keep Britain in the EURelated: Richard Branson starts his own campaign to keep Britain in the EU
The poster, an image of migrants and refugees queueing on the border of Slovenia with the caption “Breaking point”, was unveiled by Nigel Farage last week. Warsi’s intervention came amid a slew of news around the referendum campaign, with car manufacturers, Richard Branson and premier league football clubs urging a vote for remain.
“That ‘Breaking point’ poster really was – for me – the breaking point to say, ‘I can’t go on supporting this’,” Warsi told the Times. Warsi cited the poster showing migrants and refugees queueing on the border of Slovenia with the caption “Breaking point” as her key reason for leaving the campaign, as well as the repeated comments made by Michael Gove over Turkey’s accession to the EU.
“Are we prepared to tell lies, to spread hate and xenophobia just to win a campaign? For me that’s a step too far.” Warsi said the image was “perpetuating a set of lies about who those people are, where they were going, suggesting they were coming to the United Kingdom”.
Revised Times front page:Brexit camp divided as senior Tory walks out#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/LyoYwZpMO2 “This kind of nudge-nudge, wink-wink xenophobic racist campaign may be politically savvy or useful in the short term but it causes long-term damage to communities,” she told the BBC.
Accusations of divisive tactics by the Vote Leave campaign intensified after the shock murder last week of MP Jo Cox who had advocated for refugees’ rights. Her alleged killer, Thomas Mair, replied “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain” when asked to give his name at a court appearance on Saturday. Warsi, who was publicly critical of Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith’s campaign in London against Sadiq Khan, said that had been another example of “divisive toxic politics [which] must no longer be allowed to be successful and although I would have wanted to see a mayor who was a Conservative candidate, it was a relief that campaign did not succeed”.
Accusations of divisive tactics by Vote Leave intensified after the shock murder last week of MP Jo Cox who had campaigned for refugees’ rights. Her alleged killer, Thomas Mair, replied: “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain,” when asked to give his name at a court appearance on Saturday.
Farage, the Ukip leader, was forced to fend off criticism of the poster over the weekend as polls indicated the two sides were neck-and-neck ahead of the 23 June vote.Farage, the Ukip leader, was forced to fend off criticism of the poster over the weekend as polls indicated the two sides were neck-and-neck ahead of the 23 June vote.
George Osborne, the chancellor, called it “disgusting and vile” and said it had “echoes of literature used in the 1930s”.George Osborne, the chancellor, called it “disgusting and vile” and said it had “echoes of literature used in the 1930s”.
Related: European neighbours want Britain to remain – but only justRelated: European neighbours want Britain to remain – but only just
But Farage denied stirring hatred. “When you challenge the establishment in this country, they come after you, they call you all sorts of things,” he said.But Farage denied stirring hatred. “When you challenge the establishment in this country, they come after you, they call you all sorts of things,” he said.
Warsi, a member of the House of Lords, was a junior Foreign Office minister under David Cameron until she resigned in protest at the government’s policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict in 2014.Warsi, a member of the House of Lords, was a junior Foreign Office minister under David Cameron until she resigned in protest at the government’s policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict in 2014.
Speaking of the leave campaign, she told the Times: “I look at that group of people and I think they’re not the kind of people I’d get on a night bus with. Why would I want them to run my country? Speaking earlier of the leave campaign, she told the Times: “I look at that group of people and I think they’re not the kind of people I’d get on a night bus with. Why would I want them to run my country?
“I don’t want the leave camp to be running this country and I don’t want the messages coming out of that camp to form the basis of the kind of Britain that I want to live in and to bring my kids up in.”“I don’t want the leave camp to be running this country and I don’t want the messages coming out of that camp to form the basis of the kind of Britain that I want to live in and to bring my kids up in.”
She also accuse Michael Gove of telling “complete lies about Turkey’s accession to the EU”. She also accused Gove of telling “complete lies about Turkey’s accession to the EU”.
Following her announcement, Vote Leave questioned whether Warsi had ever supported its campaign. Following her announcement, Vote Leave questioned whether Warsi had ever supported its campaign. “When I invited Sayeeda Warsi to join the leave campaign, she declined,” Daniel Hannan, a member of the Vote Leave campaign committee, wrote on Twitter.
“When I invited Sayeeda Warsi to join the leave campaign, she declined,” Daniel Hannan, a member of the Vote Leave campaign committee, wrote on Twitter.
When I invited Sayeeda Warsi to join the Leave campaign, she declined. Fair enough, obviously. But how is this a "defection"?When I invited Sayeeda Warsi to join the Leave campaign, she declined. Fair enough, obviously. But how is this a "defection"?
Warsi’s intervention came amid a slew of news around the referendum campaign, with car manufacturers and tycoon Richard Branson urging a vote for remain along with English Premier League. Warsi said Hannan was being “disingenuous” but admitted she had not participated in Vote Leave events for a number of weeks, putting her lack of enthusiasm for campaigning down to a feeling of unease.
Peter Scudamore, the executive chairman of the league, said the 20 clubs in football’s top tier wanted to remain part of the EU. “The reason we have concluded that remain is best is because of our outlook. We are a global export, we look outwards,” he said. “I was making the case to leave before Vote Leave had ever formally been established,” she told Today. “I had a very clear conversations where I said I had concerns about people who were now becoming involved in the Vote Leave campaign, taking the message of what Vote Leave stood for down a path that I was not comfortable with... unfortunately those moderate voices have been stifled.”
“Are we better acting like we want to play our part in the world and be worldly citizens or do we send a signal to world that says actually we’re kind of pulling the drawbridge up here ...? Separately on Monday, the 20 clubs in football’s top tier have said they would prefer Britain to stay in the EU, according to Peter Scudamore, the executive chairman of the Premier League. “The reason we have concluded that remain is best is because of our outlook. We are a global export, we look outwards,” he said.
“There is an openness about the Premier League which I think it would be completely incongruous if we were to take the opposite position.” “Are we better acting like we want to play our part in the world and be worldly citizens or do we send a signal to world that says actually we’re kind of pulling the drawbridge up here...?
A statement from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said a vote to Leave would risk jobs. The group’s chief executive, Mike Hawes, told the BBC leaving the EU would jeopardise the industry’s continued success. “There is an openness about the Premier League, which I think it would be completely incongruous if we were to take the opposite position.”
He said: “Remaining will allow the UK to retain the influence on which the unique and successful UK automotive sector depends.” Car manufactures have also warned a vote to Leave would risk jobs in the industry. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers, told the BBC leaving the EU would jeopardise the industry’s continued success.
The BBC reported that directors at Toyota UK, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW, as well as from component makers GKN and Magal Engineering, also backed the remain campaign. Directors at Toyota UK, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW, as well as from component makers GKN and Magal Engineering, also backed the remain campaign.
He said: “Remaining will allow the UK to retain the influence on which the unique and successful UK automotive sector depends,” Hawes said.
Roy Harvey, the chairman of Vauxhall, said leaving the EU would be undesirable because the industry benefits from the free movement of goods and people.
Vote Leave said British cars are increasingly being exported outside the EU and Brexit could provide a boost to the industry.
A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit earlier in June said UK car sales would decline “over the next few years” if there was a vote to leave the EU.A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit earlier in June said UK car sales would decline “over the next few years” if there was a vote to leave the EU.