‘Hitler achieved a great deal’: Ukip MEP sparks anger as he tells its youth wing to copy Nazi leader

Fact checked

The Daily Mail posted a report last week saying: “Nigel Farage was facing a storm of protest last night after one of his MEPs was revealed to have coached Ukip candidates to emulate Hitler.  Bill Etheridge described the Nazi dictator as a ‘magnetic and forceful public speaker’ who ‘achieved a great deal’ – and said the candidates should copy the rhetorical style deployed by Hitler at the Nuremberg rallies.  Mr Farage is on the brink of formally confirming his intention to stand for Parliament in the Kent seat of Thanet South.

This new disclosure will dismay the Ukip leader as he battles to de-toxify the party’s image following a string of rows over extremism.  Mr Etheridge, who recently wrote a book celebrating golliwogs, made his astonishing remarks last weekend while training young Ukip members planning to stand in council or parliamentary elections.

The West Midlands MEP was hired to give a class on public speaking at the Young Independence Conference in Birmingham.  He suggested that the audience should take their oratorical tips from ‘a hateful figure who achieved a great deal’.  Mr Etheridge, 44, said: ‘Look back to the most magnetic and forceful public speaker possibly in history. When Hitler gave speeches, and many of the famous ones were at rallies, at the start he walks, back and forth, looked at people – there was a silence, he waited minutes just looking out at people, fixing them with his gaze.

‘They were looking back and he would do it for a while. And then they were so desperate for him to start, when he started speaking they were hanging on his every word.’  He added: ‘I’m not saying direct copy – pick up little moments.’  When a member of the audience asked Mr Etheridge, who was tasked by his party to deliver the conference, how they should use social media for pro-Ukip campaigning, he warned: ‘If you think for even a second that what you say can be screwed, twisted and spun, do not allow that video to be posted by people.’
Last night Labour MP Mike Gapes described the training session as ‘unbelievable’.  He said: ‘I thought nothing could surprise me any more, but this just goes to show that Farage has completely failed to clean up his party.  ‘One of his MEPs training young candidates to speak like Hitler? Simply unbelievable.’  During the past year, Ukip has been embarrassed by a series of racist and sexist outbursts by its activists.  One candidate said that the comedian Lenny Henry should emigrate to a ‘black country’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720860/Hitler-achieved-great-deal-Ukip-MEP-sparks-anger-tells-youth-wing-copy-Nazi-leader.html#ixzz3AmMLThAC

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

4 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.