After Lord Hermer compared Reform UK and other ECHR-quitting advocates to Nazis, GB News takes a look into how many Labour bigwigs have likened Brexit to Adolf Hitler’s sinister regime.
From Foreign Secretary David Lammy to arch-Remainer Lord Adonis, Labour politicians have landed themselves in hot water since the 2016 EU referendum.
Speaking at the Rusi defence think tank on Thursday, Lord Hermer said calls for the UK to quit international agreements echoed similar demands by legal experts in 1930s Germany, who rejected international law and human rights in favour of state power.
Lord Hermer was forced to quickly roll back on his comments, issuing a grovelling apology after coming under fire from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.
A spokesman for the Attorney General said: “The Attorney General gave a speech defending international law which underpins our security, protects against threats from aggressive states like Russia and helps tackle organised immigration crime.
“He rejects the characterisation of his speech by the Conservatives. He acknowledges though that his choice of words was clumsy and regrets having used this reference.”
But when were the other times Labour MPs have found themselves falling foul of Godwin’s law, Brexit-style?
Lord HermerPADavid Lammy - 2019
Before becoming Foreign Secretary, David Lammy was regarded as a Tottenham Europhile Labour MP.
During the heated Brexit wars of 2019, Lammy compared Tory Brexiteers in the European Research Group - which included Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Suella Braveramn - to Nazis and proponents of South African apartheid.
“I’m just looking over there at Winston Churchill,” Lammy said at a rally. “On 30 September 1938 he stood in parliament and said we would not appease Hitler. I’m looking across to Nelson Mandela, who would not give in to apartheid. We say, we will not give into the ERG. Will not appease.”
The comments sparked outrage, with Rees-Mogg warning the Labour MP risked looking "foolish".
He said: “I feel sorry for Mr Lammy, comparing a Parliamentary ginger group with an organisation and creed that killed six million Jewish people makes him look foolish and his comments unbalanced. It damages his reputation.”
However, Lammy doubled down on his comments, claiming the remark "wasn't strong enough".
He said: “I don’t care how elected they were: so was the far-right in Germany.”
David LammyPALord Adonis - 2017
Lord Adonis
OXFORD UNION
Ex-European Movement chief Lord Adonis is no stranger to winding up Brexiteers.
Throughout the parliamentary paralysis, Adonis was wheeled out as the second referendum brigade's attack dog.
The former Labour Cabinet Minister was facing calls to get the sack after he said Brexit could be as big a mistake as the appeasement of Adolf Hitler.
He said: "My language is usually pretty subdued in politics but anyone with a historical sense – and I’m a historian – recognises that leaving the economic institutions of the European Union, which have guided our destiny as a trading nation for half a century, is a very big step and the importance can’t be over-emphasised.
"To my mind, it’s as big a step that we’re taking as a country as decolonisation in the 1950s and 60s and appeasement in the 1930s.
"We got it right on decolonisation; we got it wrong on appeasement and I think we’re in serious danger of getting it wrong in the way that we leave the EU."
Ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith was among the Tory Brexiteers to fume at Adonis over his comments.
“I am astonished and appalled that someone who considers himself to be intelligent should have selected such a comparison given all the appalling violence and death that Hitler visited on Europe and the rest of the world," he said. "I find his comments deeply offensive, as I believe most of the British people will too.”
Adonis's Brexit journey did not end too smoothly after he decided to stand in South West England the 2019 European Parliament Election.
The ex-Transport Secretary missed out on winning a seat in Brussels as Labour slumped to fifth in the region, leaving Nigel Farage's Brexit Party to hoover up votes.
Bill Esterson - 2020
Sir Keir Starmer was forced to rebuke then-Shadow Trade Minister Bill Esterson in 2020 after the Sefton Central MP sparked outrage by tweeting about Nazis
Esterson said: "My dad’s family is Jewish. We have no idea how many of our relatives were murdered in the Holocaust.
“I fear Johnson’s actions are leading us to a very dangerous place.”
The outburst yet again sparked fury. Amanda Milling, who then served as Boris Johnson's Tory chairwoman, said: “It’s an outrageous insult to all those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis and offensive to those who voted to leave the EU.
“As usual Labour are out of touch with the British people. Will Keir condemn?”
The Prime Minister confirmed his office had ordered Esterson to immediately delete the tweet.
Starmer added that he had told his MPs to “stay off Twitter”.
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