Six weeks prior to the referendum on whether to stay or leave the EU, the British society was stirred by the comparison of the EU with the Third Reich, made by the chief adept of the Brexit Boris Johnson.
London ex-mayor considers that the European Union’s goal is analogical to Hitler’s attempts to create a powerful superstate. “Napoleon, Hitler, various people have always tried to do this, and the end was every time tragic. The EU is an attempt to do the same, using different methods,” he said.
In his turn, British Prime Minister David Cameron warned against possible consequences of the Brexit. “If on June 23 you vote for leaving the EU, you will also vote for the increase of prices, loss of jobs, decrease of economy, and possible recession. Our economy does not need any of these,” he stated.
Johnson’s argument was immediately condemned by the group “Britain Stronger in Europe.” In particular, a former member of the Cabinet of Ministers, Laborite Yvette Cooper thinks the ex-mayor is desperately looking for headlines for a desperate campaign. “The more hysterical claims he makes, the more shameful lack of reason he is showing, as well as playing the most disuniting and cynical politics, and insubstantiality of his arguments,” she said.
Churchill’s grandson, an MP from Conservative Party Nicholas Soames considers that Johnson has gone too far. He also described the ex-mayor of London as “a master of self-injury.” Hilary Benn, the shadow minister of foreign affairs spoke critically of Johnson’s comparison. He finds Johnson’s latest argument hurtful and desperate: “The participants of the campaign for leaving the EU have already lost an economic argument, and now they are leaving their moral guidelines too. The attempt to compare Hitler and the Nazi – millions of people killed in the World War II, the Holocaust – with the free democracies of Europe which have united to trade and cooperate, helping to bring peace to the continent after centuries of wars, is openly appalling.”
