Konstantin Kisin
@KonstantinKisinCalling everyone you disagree with "far right" has destroyed the meaning of the term. I'm sick of seeing serious labels abused to smear ordinary people with legitimate concerns. In 2015, before Brexit, over 50% of the country was concerned about immigration. Does that make half the country "far right"? Throwing these labels around is reckless, dishonest, and damaging to public debate.
Post Analysis
The post mixes accurate polling data with a false, overly narrow definition to build its argument. The statistic that over 50% of the British public was concerned about immigration in 2015 is accurate, with the Oxford Migration Observatory recording a peak of 56% in September 2015 and Ipsos MORI finding similarly high concern in the months before the Brexit referendum[CLAIM 1]. The account of David Lammy’s remarks is also substantially accurate: while the exact wording “worse than the far right” is not a direct quote, Lammy did state that comparing the European Research Group to Nazis was “not strong enough” and explicitly likened the ERG to the far right in Germany[CLAIM 3].
However, the post’s central premise—that “far right” has a clear and defined meaning limited strictly to Nazis and people who believe Jews, Romani people, or disabled people should be murdered—is incorrect[CLAIM 2]. Academic definitions describe the far right as a broad ideological spectrum that includes extreme nationalism, nativism, xenophobia, authoritarianism, and other reactionary views, many of which do not involve those specific genocidal beliefs[CLAIM 2]. By omitting this wider context and conflating the entire far right with Nazism, the poster misrepresents the term to make the labeling of ordinary immigration concerns appear inherently absurd[CLAIM 2]. Because the argument depends heavily on this false definitional premise, the post is significantly misleading despite containing some true details.
Overall validity: 25%
Claims Found
- The term “far right” is defined as encompassing Nazis and people who believe that Jews, Romani people, or disabled people should be murdered.20%Model: Kimi K2.6 Checked on:
Based on my research, here is my analysis of the claim:
Reasoning:
- The term "far right" is an umbrella term used in political science that encompasses both the "radical right" and the "extreme right," not merely Nazis or those with specific genocidal beliefs12.
- While the far right does include fascists, neo-Nazis, and ideologies that can lead to genocide123, academic definitions are much broader, describing it as politics "further on the right of the left-right spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of extreme nationalism, nativist ideologies, and authoritarian tendencies"1.
- The Encyclopedia of Politics defines far-right politics as including "persons or groups who hold extreme nationalist, xenophobic, homophobic, racist, religious fundamentalist, or other reactionary views"2. This is far broader than the claim suggests.
- The far-right spectrum includes the "radical right," which accepts free elections and operates within democratic bounds without necessarily promoting violence or murder24. Many far-right movements hold reactionary views but do not advocate murdering Jews, Romani people, or disabled people.
- Nazis did target Jews, Roma, and people with disabilities for annihilation56, and Nazis are indeed part of the far right. However, the claim falsely narrows the definition of "far right" to focus exclusively on these specific murderous beliefs, ignoring the much wider ideological spectrum that the term actually covers.
- The claim conflates the historical actions of Nazism with the general academic definition of far-right politics, which includes ultranationalist, chauvinist, xenophobic, theocratic, racist, homophobic, anti-communist, and other reactionary views that need not involve those specific targeted groups21.
Overall validity: 20%
- David Lammy stated that the European Research Group was worse than the far right.80%Model: Kimi K2.6 Checked on:
Fact Check Analysis
Reasoning:
- David Lammy did make highly controversial remarks about the European Research Group (ERG) on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in April 201912.
- When asked whether his previous comparison of the ERG to Nazis and South African apartheid was appropriate, Lammy replied: "I would say that that wasn't strong enough"21. This implies he considered the ERG to be at least as extreme as, if not worse than, the Nazis.
- Lammy also stated: "I don't care how elected they were – so was the far right in Germany"23, explicitly drawing a parallel between the ERG and the far right.
- He described the ERG as enabling "this extreme hard-right fascism" and criticized Jacob Rees-Mogg for sharing content from the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which Lammy called "the horrible, racist AfD party, a party that's Islamophobic and on the far right"21.
- However, the exact phrase "worse than the far right" does not appear in any of the reported sources as a direct quote. Lammy's precise formulation was that comparing the ERG to Nazis was "not strong enough" and that the far right in Germany was also elected2.
- The claim accurately captures the substance and extreme nature of Lammy's remarks, which were widely reported and criticized at the time, but uses slightly different wording than what was directly quoted in news reports.
Overall validity: 80%
- Labour MP David Lammy says his comparison of Tory Brexiteers to Nazis ‘wasn’t strong enough’ | The Independent | The Independent
- David Lammy says comparing ERG to Nazis ‘not strong enough’ | David Lammy | The Guardian
- Jacob Rees-Mogg Hits Back At David Lammy Over ERG Nazi Comparison | HuffPost UK Politics
- In 2015, before the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, over 50 % of the British public was concerned about immigration.95%Model: Kimi K2.6 Checked on:
- According to the Oxford Migration Observatory, between June 2015 and June 2016, immigration was consistently named as the most salient issue facing the UK, peaking at 56% in September 20151.
- Data from the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory indicates that immediately prior to the 2016 Brexit referendum, immigration concern reached its highest levels, with the 56% figure recorded in September 2015 representing the proportion of respondents who identified it as the most important issue facing the country2.
- Additional polling from Ipsos MORI in April 2015 showed 47% of respondents rated immigration as the most pressing concern facing Britain, and for nine consecutive months, voters identified immigration among the most important issues3.
Overall validity: 95%