Brexiteer rebuked after backing Nigel Farage’s ‘East Germany’ claims

In a ten-minute clip posted on his Twitter account, Farage warned there was “a danger we could become something akin to a police state”.

The former Brexit Party leader said legislation to legalise the latest lockdown had gone “way too far” and was worried Westminster had been taking British society “to a place where East Germany was before the fall of the Berlin Wall”.

In response, Oakeshott tweeted: “Nigel Farage is right to warn that the UK is in danger of turning into East Germany.

“I wonder how long it will take for our country to recover from the brutal authoritarianism that has been established in the name of coronavirus.”

Oakeshott is an outspoken critic of the government’s handling of the virus and once received a firm rebuke from Good Morning Britain‘s Dr Hilary after calling for young people to be exempt from restrictions.

The former journalist’s comment was met with fierce criticism online.

The Economist‘s Shashank Joshi said the remark was “not far off the sort of dishonest and incendiary rhetoric that led to last week’s violence in Washington”.

“‘Turning into East Germany’. ‘Brutal authoritarianism’. A short step from delegitimising the state to worse,” he wrote.

Pascal Jacquemain said: “Oh shoot. My mum lived under Nazi occupation before she was smuggled into Switz for her safety. She knows what authoritarianism looks like and it ain’t it.”

Neil C Boote followed up: “You wouldn’t a know brutal authoritarianism if it bit you on the rear. Not being able to host dinner parties or go to a music festival for a few months really isn’t it.”

“Says the people who would prorogue parliament if they didn’t get the right to dictate legislation,” asserted Michael Carson.

Stuart Fuller served Oakeshott with a brilliant response.

“Seems to me that any commentator who thinks that the govt’s reaction to the pandemic is ‘brutal authoritarianism’ and that the UK is ‘in danger of turning into East Germany’ needs to invest in a dictionary and in some history lessons.”

This is not the first time commentator has come to Farage’s defence.

MORE: Isabel Oakeshott says Brexit has a ‘raft of benefits’ – but fails to name one

Last week she said Farage should have been included on the New Year’s Honours List because he “did more than anyone else on the planet to get us out of the EU” while calling the honours system “corrupt” and “a nonsense”.