Auschwitz gaffe shames Lib Dem f ighting Tory seat
A CANDIDATE in the forthcoming North Shropshire byelection has apologised after The Mail on Sunday uncovered social media posts appearing to liken the experience of Channel migrants to Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz.
Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan, who is the main challenger to the incumbent Conservatives, wrote on Twitter about her son’s experience of reading The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, in which the son of the camp commandant befriends a Jewish boy on the other side of the fence.
Ms Morgan, who is trying to overturn a Tory majority of nearly 23,000, said in September 2020: ‘He commented that the Nazis were only able to do such terrible things because they didn’t think their victims were people. He’s 11. On Twitter this morning, there are people talking about cancelling their RNLI donations because they have picked up “illegals”. The language used every day in this country – by the Government, press and people with thousands of followers on social media – it’s nothing short of chilling. We have travelled too far down this road. We urgently need to turn back.’
In the same thread, she liked a tweet by an unidentified user who claimed: ‘Having visited
Auschwitz concentration camp in the recent past. It really brings home man’s inhumanity to man. Now on a daily basis the language and actions of the Conservative Party make me more and more concerned about the direction they are taking the UK and its people.’ After being approached by this newspaper yesterday about Ms Morgan’s comparison, a Liberal Democrat spokesman said: ‘Helen Morgan has taken down this tweet and apologises if any offence was caused.
‘She is passionate about standing up against this Conservative Government which is taking people in Shropshire for granted.’
The by-election on December 16 was forced by the resignation of former Cabinet Minister Owen Paterson following a sleaze row over lobbying.
The latest poll in the seat put the Tories on 47.7 per cent, the Lib Dems on 37.8 per cent, and Labour on 10.5 per cent.