The U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) has launched a poster depicting a queue of migrants who leader Nigel Farage claimed would be given EU passports "within a few years."
The poster's slogan reads "BREAKING POINT: The EU has failed us all," and depicts a queue of refugees and migrants entering Slovenia.
The EU has failed us all. We must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders. pic.twitter.com/CIHN8ifQHg
— UKIP (@UKIP) June 16, 2016
At a launch event on Wednesday, the image was "paraded" through London on trucks:
'@UKIP's new billboard being paraded through London!#VoteLeave and take back control of our borders! #EURef pic.twitter.com/ArUO0mMFC8
— Leave.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) June 16, 2016
In an article for the Daily Express promoting the poster, Farage wrote: "As you will see from today's advert, the EU has failed us all. The disastrous common asylum policy was compounded by Angela Merkel last summer saying all are welcome to come to Europe.
"The failure of EU policy now affects everyone and the Euroskeptic debate is on the rise in all countries."
Farage said the image was the first of several "hard hitting" pictures he would be unveiling in "the next week," that would "connect with the British public and no doubt rattle the establishment."
The images will be seen in the Express and other national newspapers, on social media and at further poster launches around the country, following Farage's ongoing Brexit bus tour, including in Pontefract, Yorkshire, on Saturday and South Shields, near Newcastle, on Monday.
And Farage told the BBC at the launch of the poster that all the migrants on the poster would have EU passports "within a few years," adding that "Politically I really do think that the European Union is at breaking point."
Immigration has become a central issue in the debate ahead of Britain's EU membership referendum on June 23, with Leave campaigners insisting that leaving the bloc would enable Britain to get more control over its borders.
But more liberally minded Twitter users—not UKIP's target market—slammed the controversial image:
So it's the Remain camp that's Project Fear is it? Hope majority Brits are repulsed by this & @Nigel_Farage & @UKIP https://t.co/okk45JLwHG
— Sean O'Brien (@seaneobrien) June 16, 2016
Latest UKIP poster makes it quite clear what sort of UK they will give us if allowed to win #EUref pic.twitter.com/G5onMWIPQa
— Sajjad Karim (@SHKMEP) June 16, 2016
You thought UKIP & Farage couldnt go lower? You were wrong. Truly repulsive & shameless. #racistUKIP #EUref pic.twitter.com/OClxkDuv7S
— Gerry Hassan (@GerryHassan) June 16, 2016
You'd never guess Farage once asked Enoch Powell to back UKIP https://t.co/WuCchl8ujQ
— Sathnam Sanghera (@Sathnam) June 16, 2016
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Josh is a staff writer covering Europe, including politics, policy, immigration and more.
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