James O’Brien raised a troubling question when he compared a speech by home secretary Amber Rudd on foreign workers to the words of notorious dictator Adolf Hitler.
O’Brien admonished Rudd for pushing a policy branded that would see UK companies forced to publish the numbers of staff employed from overseas.
The LBC presenter accused the home secretary of “enacting chapter two of Mein Kampf” as he read aloud from the political manifesto of Adolf Hitler.
He told listeners this was an extract from Rudd’s Conservative conference speech:
“For the state should draw the sharp line of distinction between those who, as members of the nation, are the foundation and support of its existence and greatness, and those who are domiciled simply as earners of their livelihoods of there.”
After leaving the words hang in the air for a few moments, O’Brien admitted the quote was not from Rudd’s speech but rather Mein Kampf - the book written by Hitler during his time in prison before becoming German Chancellor.
“Do you recognise that need for a sharp distinction? Do you feel it? Do you applaud that today?” O’Brien asked.
“Do you cheer it because we’ve heard some meaningless anecdote about a plasterer whose wages have risen by the same percentage in the last ten or fifteen years that almost everyone else in Britain has?”
Of Rudd’s policy, that businesses should distinguish and detail the numbers of foreign workers it employs, the LBC host lamented: “If you’re going to have a sharp line of distinction between people born here and people just working here, you’re enacting chapter two of Mein Kampf. Strange times.”
O’Brien was praised by listeners, who were left amazed by the contrasting quotes.
The home secretary has faced a torrent of criticism for her policy to curb immigration and grow the number of in-work Brits, indicating yesterday that she could ditch the plan.
She said: “It’s not something we’re definitely going to do, it’s one of the tools we’re going to use as a review to see if we can use it as a way of nudging people to do better behaviour.”