Labour contender Clive Lewis sparks outcry after claiming Brexit vote had racism ‘at its core’
LABOUR contender Clive Lewis has sparked fury after claiming the historic Brexit vote had racism “at its core”.
The Norwich South MP said non-white Britons woke up with a “sense of dread” the day after the referendum, which will see Britain finally leave on January 31.
Having previously suggested racism was a reason some Labour MPs were not backing him, the arch-Remainer now also claimed it was integral to Brexit.
He said: “'I think part of the Brexit campaign, and part of the undertone of Brexit, from some politicians, Nigel Farage and others, had racism at its core and its heart.
“'They used it as a mechanism to divide our communities, to divide our country.
“How many people of colour, how many people of colour, on the day after the referendum with a sense of dread because of what had happened?
“Ultimately our country had chosen to listen to Boris Johnson, someone who has a track record of racist commentary, of giving credence to racism.”
Despite his bizarre claims, the leadership hopeful admitted some of his own family voted to leave the EU.
He said: "Now that doesn’t mean that every single person that voted for Brexit is a racist, some of my family voted for Brexit but I think there were drivers within that campaign that certainly were very unsavoury and what I would call racist.”
The radical leftie also called for the Royal Family and private schools to be abolished.
His comments sparked fury among Brexiteers, with Sir Iain Duncan Smith labelling them “breathtaking absurdity”.
He said: “He’s saying this about 17.4 million people.
“The present Labour party does not understand why people have turned away from them.
“The Labour party think they won the election but were finally let down by the British people at the end.”
Passionate Brexiteer Steve Baker also blasted the leadership contenders claims.
He said: “Clive’s hysterics are not just wrong, they obviously didn’t work with the British public, who are far too sensible for this rubbish.
“It’s time to pull together, not sow more division.”
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