Scapegoating ‘like Nazism’

Abbott views under fire

Diane Abbott was criticised last night after she compared those with concerns about immigration to people who “scapegoated” minority groups in pre-nazi Germany.

In a speech yesterday the shadow home secretary said the economic crash had “heightened” the debate about immigration and likened it to the atmosphere in Germany between 1919 and 1933, telling an audience in London: “Economic collapse has always led to scapegoating the other”. Philip Hollobone, a Tory MP, said: “Diane Abbott has always been wrong about immigration and her latest remarks demonstrate how completely out of touch she is with the majority of public opinion out there in the real world.

“I’m afraid her London-centric, anti-brexit views appear to be more warped than ever.”

Abbott said: “The debate around immigration has been incredibly heightened by the economic consequence of the 2008 crash.

“Historically, such as in the period of the Weimar Republic in Germany between the wars, economic collapse has always led to scapegoating the other.”

Ms Abbott also pledged that Labour would allow the parents of child refugees to join them.