Kevin Schofield is Politics Editor of HuffPost UK.
The poem, written in 1946 by German pastor Martin Niemoller, says: “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.“Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
This is grossly offensive from someone who sat at the Tory cabinet table just months ago. These comments should be condemned by the Leader of the Opposition and those competing to be the next Tory leader. No, I do not think the post-war confessional of Martin Niemöller about the silent complicity of the German intelligentsia and clergy in the Nazi rise to power is pertinent to a Smoking Bill that was in your manifesto and ours to tackle one of the biggest killers.But McVey doubled down on her previous remarks and insisted she “would not be bullied” into taking down her original post.
“It is called an analogy - those who restrict freedoms start with easy targets then expand their reach. “I am pretty sure everyone understands the point I was making and knows that no offence was ever intended and that no equivalence was being suggested.”Former Labour MP John Mann, who was the last government’s independent adviser on anti-semitism, said: “The apology is worse than the original. I suggest she quickly deletes both and saves herself further embarrassment.
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