'Absolutely disgusting' Leave.EU tweet linking antisemitism to Muslim voters reported to police

Labour MP asks for hate crime investigation into claim antisemitism in Labour Party is a result of 'Britain's exploding Muslim population'

Leave.EU founder Arron Banks defended the tweet after it was criticised as 'absolutely disgusting' (AFP)

A major Brexit-supporting campaign group has provoked outrage after suggesting antisemitism in the Labour Party is a result of “Britain’s exploding Muslim population”.

The Leave.EU group, which is closely connected to Ukip, posted the tweet in response to criticism that Jeremy Corbyn’s party has failed to address anti-Jewish abuse its ranks.

Leave.EU claimed this was because Labour is “reliant” on the support of Muslims voters.

It posted on Twitter: “Is it any wonder that Labour can't be bothered to deal with the disgusting antisemitism in their party when they are so reliant on the votes of Britain's exploding Muslim population? It's a question of maths for these people, not justice!”

The message was accompanied by an image showing a see-saw with a block reading “3 million Muslim votes” on one side and one saying “300,000 Jewish votes” on the other, along with the caption: “Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.”

Despite a furious backlash, the tweet was defended by senior Leave.EU figures, including its founder, Ukip donor Arron Banks, and its communications director, Andy Wigmore.

Appearing to blame Muslims for antisemitism, Mr Banks said: “You don’t need a degree in rocket science to work out why the anti-Jewish feeling is so strong in Labour.”

Mr Wigmore retweeted several messages defending the post, including one that said it was “inferring why Labour is not strong enough on antisemitism. It was highlighting how their voter base influences their decisions on certain subjects.”

Raheem Kassam, a former Ukip leadership candidate and adviser to Nigel Farage, also defended it, suggesting the message was “flushing a lot of pseudo conservatives out” and claimed critics were “chuntering their disgust while failing to acknowledge core demographic facts”.

Last year, Mr Banks, Mr Wigmore and Mr Kassam all accompanied Mr Farage to the US to meet with Donald Trump shortly after he became US president.

The tweet was immediately condemned by Jewish community group the Board of Deputies, which called the post “completely unacceptable” and called on Leave.EU to delete it and apologise.

The organisation wrote on Twitter: “Some of the best allies we have in the struggle against antisemitism are Muslims, Sadiq Khan, TellMama and more. This is not the way to challenge antisemitism.”

Labour MP David Lammy said he had reported the post to the Metropolitan Police.

He said: “This tweet is a crime under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006: ‘Use of threatening words or behaviour, or any written material which is threatening or intends thereby to stir up religious hatred.”

Calling the message “absolutely disgusting”, he called on “all people that voted Leave on June 23^rd 2016 to condemn this immediately and unequivocally”, including Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage.

His colleague, Jess Phillips, said the tweet was “horrendously racist on so many levels, namely suggesting that Muslims are not horrified by anti-Semitism”.

In response, Mr Banks wrote: “I’m not suggesting all Muslims are anti-Jewish, just the Labour Party who now rely on their votes.”

As the backlash continued, Conservative MP Anna Soubry, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, said: “This tweet is thoroughly distasteful and offensive. It is nothing to do with leaving the EU.

“It is, however, proof that Leave.EU is a front organisation for a far-right group that is more interested in spreading hatred and creating division than upholding British values of respect and tolerance.”

Labour’s Wes Streeting, the co-chair of the group, said: “Muslim and Jewish communities will be disgusted by this cynical and nasty attempt to stir up hatred and division.

“Muslims and Jews know what it is to experience prejudice based on their race and religion and will stand together against this type of ugly rhetoric.

“Leave.EU should withdraw this tweet and apologise immediately.”