The Brexit Party has written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over “outrageous and untrue accusations” allegedly made by a Labour member of the European Parliament during the European election count in May.
The complaint follows comments made in Birmingham in May, when the Brexit Party alleges Labour MEP Neena Gill accused the Brexit Party of being a “fascist regime” and “racist”, as outlined in a letter to the Equality and Human Rights Commission by party chairman and businessman Richard Tice MEP.
Tice points to the “great upset” caused by alleged remarks to two Brexit Party MEP candidates present at the count, including Laura Mann Kevehazi, whose great grandparents were murdered by Nazis during the Second World War.
“Laura is a Jewish immigrant whose two great grandparents were shot dead by Nazis. Both were buried in a mass grave,” Tice wrote to the Commission.
“For one elected official to insinuate that another is aligned with a genocidal ideology that brutally claimed the lives of her own ancestors, is wicked. Whatever Ms Gill’s intentions, anti-Semitism is obviously a growing problem at present.”
Also present was Brexit candidate Vishal Khatri, the son of an Indian immigrant. Tice complained to dismiss Mr Khatri as a supporter of a “fascist regime” or as a “racist” was a “source of reputational damage.”
Brexit Party MEP Andrew England Kerr told Breitbart London that Gill’s comments were unacceptable. He said: “Neena Gill should be ashamed of herself. These slurs are beneath civilised political debate.
“Our wonderful Brexit Party team included a diverse range of people from all walks of life. Her false and hurtful allegations caused deep offence to many of my colleagues. We have to draw a line in the sand here. We welcome robust political debate, but this is unacceptable.
“We have challenged Neena Gill to debate these allegations, any time, any place. I sincerely hope she takes this opportunity to set the record straight.”
Neena Gill was, by her own account, on combative form on the night of the count. After claiming she had been shouted down by Brexit Party supporters at the election count Gill told the Wolverhampton Express and Star in June that the party bears “all the hallmarks of far-right movements throughout Europe’s troubled 20th century history”.
Further, Gill told the newspaper that she would “finish the job” of destroying the party. Ironically, the “Indian Origin Parliamentarian” claimed she was “everything that the Nigel Farages of this world despise: an immigration success story” — despite her comments clearly causing hurt to fellow Indian-origin politician Vishal Khatri, an ally of Mr Farage.
Gill told the same newspaper that she rejected the claims of harm made by the Brexit Party as “vexatious” this week.
The complaint by Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice follows his previous successful pushback against Scottish Nationalist politician Alyn Smith, who had accused the Brexit Party of being “shysters” and a “money laundering front”.
Smith subsequently apologised after Tice threatened to sue him for defamation, withdrew the allegation and revealed he would be paying legal costs. He said: “Having reflected upon this following a complaint from Mr Tice, I apologise unreservedly to him and withdraw my allegation. I am happy to state clearly that I do not have any evidence to support such an allegation. I spoke in the heat of the moment and I am happy to set the record straight.”
Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook
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