Plaid Cymru sparks fury for ‘deeply offensive’ tweet
James Cleverly hits back at Gary Lineker claims
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Welsh Secretary David T.C. Davies has condemned Plaid Cymru after a party branch shared an image with the faces of senior Tories superimposed onto Nazi supporters. The Welsh Secretary has written a letter to Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price, describing the graphic as “deeply offensive” and pointing out that some of those Conservative MPs targeted by the image have Jewish ancestry themselves.
In the letter, seen by Express.co.uk, the Welsh Secretary writes that he is “appalled that the Plaid Cymru Monmouth branch deemed it appropriate to retweet/endorse such vitriolic content”.
He warned that the party branch responsible risks trivialising “the horrors of Nazism, as well as the subsequent Holocaust”.
He said: “Behaviour like this from Plaid Cymru representatives belittles and dilutes the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, and may understandably bring deep offence to those affected by Nazism, and the Jewish community at large.”
Mr T.C. Davies – who represents the Monmouth constituency in Parliament – demanded Plaid leader Adam Price inform him of what further steps are being taken to address the matter.
The letter also copied in the Community Security Trust, “which works to protect the Jewish Community against such unacceptable behaviour”.
The offensive post was first spotted by Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, himself depicted in the graphic as a Nazi supporter.
Mr Clarke-Smith said that it was “an offensive post full stop, but particularly appalling considering the family history of some of those pictured”.
He told Express.co.uk: “Plaid Cymru claim to be working towards creating an equal nation and a nation of equals yet they feel it is appropriate to share a post without considering the personal implications of those it attacks.”
Since the Government announced their new Illegal Migration Bill, Tory MPs have been subject to numerous comparisons to Nazis, not least by Gary Lineker who caused a BBC impartiality scandal by tweeting that the Government’s actions against small boat crossings “is not dissimilar” to Germany in the 30s.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman this week said she was offended by Lineker’s comparison because her husband is Jewish.
She said: “My husband is Jewish, my children are therefore directly descendant from people who were murdered in gas chambers during the Holocaust. And my husband’s family is very – feels very – keenly the impact of the Holocaust, actually.
“To kind of throw out those kinds of flippant analogies diminishes the unspeakable tragedy that millions of people went through.”
On Wednesday, Robert Jenrick said: “My children are the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, and I think those sorts of words should not be thrown around lightly.”
Asked by Express.co.uk whether the social media post was an official endorsement of the view portrayed in the graphic, a Plaid Cymru spokesperson responded that the tweet has now been deleted.
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The original graphic referenced the recent furore around Gary Lineker’s commentary on the Government’s new Illegal Migrant Bill, intended to stop tens of thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel into Britain.
Speaking in the Commons this week, Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams warned the Home Secretary that the small boats bill could make asylum seekers feel suicidal.
He said: “Safaa, who is a Syrian refugee escaped from Daesh for her own safety to save her life. She thinks that the Government’s plans will make others in her situation feel suicidal.
“She said that, ‘with the UK Government policy, when you arrive, the dream is broken, it is gone. Still, my family have settled in Wales and contribute to society’.”
Ms Braverman responded that she is “very proud of our track record of welcoming people through humanitarian routes”.
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