Cable claims Hitler inspired PM’s ‘citizens of nowhere’ quip
sIR Vince Cable yesterday accused theresa May of using a phrase that could have come from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
He compared the Prime Minister’s reference in a speech last year to ‘citizens of nowhere’ to words used by the Nazi leader whose 1925 book outlined his political ideology.
twickenham MP sir Vince, the only candidate standing for the Lib-Dem leadership, said Mrs May’s phrase was ‘quite evil’, adding: ‘It could have been taken out of Mein Kampf. I think that’s where it came from, wasn’t it? “Rootless cosmopolitans”? It was out of character for her.’
the Prime Minister made the comments in her party conference speech in October in which she criticised wealthy tax dodgers who view themselves as ‘citizens of nowhere’. she said: ‘If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what citizenship means.’
the phrase ‘rootless cosmopolitan’ is a reference to Jewish people that emerged in the 19th century and was used by sta-
‘An ill-judged comment’
lin to justify anti- semitic purges. the prejudice was also adopted by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust. But Mrs May was referring to the super-rich who see themselves as globetrotters and feel they should not have to pay taxes.
Last night, tory MP Mims Davies said: ‘Vince Cable should reconsider and retract this ill-judged comment.’
A spokesman for sir Vince said he was highlighting the ‘unfortunate’ similarity in language of a small section of Mrs May’s speech and language used throughout Mein Kampf. the spokesman added that sir Vince had stressed how out of character it was for her to use such language.
sir Vince made the comments while discussing his experience of returning to Britain in the 1960s with his Indian wife from working in Kenya after Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ speech.
He told the New statesman the hatred around that was dreadful, and the Eu referendum campaign showed it was ‘ not difficult to stir up these feelings again’.