PUBLISHED: 09:11 08 June 2020 | UPDATED: 09:14 08 June 2020<\/p>\n
Andra Maciuca <\/p>\n
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaks in front of newly elected Brexit Party MEPs, including Annunziata Rees-Mogg (L), Dr David Bull (2nd L) and Ann Widdecombe (2nd R) at a Brexit Party event. (Photo by Peter Summers\/Getty Images) (Photo by Peter Summers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
2019 Getty Images<\/p>\n
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The claims came from Belinda de Lucy, as part of a tweet complaining that the media accused the Brexit Party of racism on a regular basis. <\/p>\n
The tweet was sent in response to a tweet from the official account for Sophy Ridge on Sunday in which the presenter asks health secretary Matt Hancock how many black people there are in the current cabinet - to which Hancock says there is a whole series of people from this background. <\/p>\n
De Lucys tweet read: Hey Sophy, we had the most diverse party in the whole of the EU Parliament, and it didnt stop the constant accusation and insinuations from the mainstream media that we were racists. <\/p>\n
Its a false narrative that is pushed on anyone not left wing. <\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, Twitter did not support her claims.<\/p>\n
Responses to the Brexiteers tweet included have you tried not being racist. <\/p>\n
One user tried to explain to de Lucy that BAME MEPs as a proportion of the total MEPs show Brexiteers were far from being the most diverse party. <\/p>\n
De Lucy replied: In the EU Parliament - to which the user said: I know. That is why I said MEPs. <\/p>\n
An analysis carried out by The New European found that, out of the main national parties in the UK which had MEPs following the May 2019 European Parliament elections, the Brexit Party had the smallest percentage of BAME MEPs only 10% of their members in the European Parliament were not white. <\/p>\n
By comparison, Labour had 22% BAME MEPs, while the Green Party had 14% and the Lib Dems had 13%. <\/p>\n
The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) found, in the light of last years EP elections, that the UK is the country with the biggest number of minority ethnic MEPs. However, the number is still very small at only eight MEPs, considering the UK had 73 representatives between 2019-2020. <\/p>\n
Because of Brexit, which Nigel Farages organisation was built on, the number of both ethnic minorities and people of colour will go down 1% after the UKs exit from the European Union resulting in 4% and, respectively 3% of the European Parliament being made of each group. <\/p>\n
The Brexit Party also fared the worst in terms of gender diversity out of the main UK parties in EP 72% of the partys MEPs were men, as compared to 50% of the Tories, 38% of the Lib Dems and 29% of the Greens.<\/p>\n
Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press with your support. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.<\/p>\n
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Brexiteer called out for claiming Brexit Party was 'most diverse' in European Parliament - The New European<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PUBLISHED: 09:11 08 June 2020 | UPDATED: 09:14 08 June 2020 Andra Maciuca Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaks in front of newly elected Brexit Party MEPs, including Annunziata Rees-Mogg (L), Dr David Bull (2nd L) and Ann Widdecombe (2nd R) at a Brexit Party event. (Photo by Peter Summers\/Getty Images) (Photo by Peter Summers\/Getty Images) 2019 Getty Images Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. Continue reading