Labour Leader Candidate Clive Lewis: Brexit Has ‘Racism at Its Core’

brexit
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Kurt Zindulka

A contender to replace ageing socialist Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of the Labour Party concluded his campaign by deriding over half of Britain’s electorate, saying the Brexit campaign had “racism at its core”.

In a final push for his leadership campaign ahead of the nomination deadline, Clive Lewis, Member of Parliament for Norwich South and Shadow Treasury Minister, said that many minorities felt a “sense of dread” after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

“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”, Lewis claimed on Sky News.

“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?” he asked.

“Ultimately our country had chosen to listen to Boris Johnson, someone who has a track record of racist commentary, of giving credence to racism”, Lewis suggested.

Mr Lewis did admit, however, that not everyone who voted to leave the European Union is a racist, conceding that even members of his own family had voted for Brexit.

“[S]ome 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,” he said.

Lewis also blamed the decision by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to step back from her royal duties on “structural racism” in the media.

“We can see it with Meghan Markle and the way that she’s been treated in the media”, he said.

“We know this is a reality of the 21st century still after 400 years of racism. You can’t just overturn it overnight, it is something that we’re going to have to work on”, he concluded.

The Shadow Treasury Minister also called for a referendum on the future of the Royal Family, saying that Britons should be “citizens rather than subjects”.

In fact Britons are already “citizens”, however, as every British passport clearly indicates.

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

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