Brexit champion Nigel Farage has accused the Conservative Party chairman of “inciting” violence against his Reform UK party and its supporters after he compared it to the Nazis.
On Sunday, Kevin Hollinrake, the chairman of the Conservative Party, posted on X comparing a gold-and-black Reform UK logo to the Golden Party Badge, an award given to the first 100,000 members of Adolph Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party in 1933.
While Hollinrake later deleted the post, he made a similar post about the Reform UK logo while linking to the Wikipedia article for the Nazi badge.
Despite widespread criticism, including from former Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who described the post as “wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive”, the party has so far refused to apologise.
Addressing the controversy in an address to supporters in Wales on Monday, Reform leader Nigel Farage lambasted Hollinrake for “comparing our supporters and members to those who in the 1930s joined the Nazi Party”.
“Not only is it only insulting and wrong, but it’s actually inciteful and dangerous given the world we live in. Just think, that’s exactly what they were saying about Charlie Kirk in the United States of America. Shame on him,” Farage said, according to The Telegraph.
The Reform boss said that the incident further demonstrated the decline of the Conservative Party, saying: “I don’t see it coming back at all: I think their 200-year journey is coming to an end.
“We have now replaced the Conservatives. We are now the force of opposition to the Labour government. We are the opposition now.”
It comes as a recent survey predicted that the Conservatives would suffer a near wipeout in the next general election, with the poll finding that the traditional party of government would be relegated to just 14 seats in the House of Commons. In comparison, the survey forecast that Farage’s Reform UK would be the election winner with 348 seats.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attempted to dismiss the controversy surrounding her chairman, claiming on Monday that it was merely a “joke”.
However, many did not find the post humorous, with former Conservative MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who defected to Reform last year, wrote: “So Kevin Hollinrake, I have known you for a decade, and you now think I am a Nazi? Appalling tweet.”
Head of policy for Reform, Zia Yusuf, added: “This will be on leaflets and ad vans to the point of saturation, so every single one of their constituents knows – the Tories think that if you support Reform you’re a Nazi.”
The controversy comes amid increasing concern for the safety of Mr Farage, with the government cutting his state security detail by 75 per cent, despite the Brexit leader having faced mutlitple attacks in public.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: Follow @KurtZindulka or e-mail to: [email protected]
Read the full article here