Reform’s Sarah Pochin has been roundly condemned for a sneering World War Two jibe aimed at France.
This week, Reform UK announced plans to use the Royal Navy to patrol the English Channel and push back small boat migrant crossings.
The feasibility and practicality of the policy has been widely questioned, with many saying it simply will not work and pointing out that international law means the navy would not simply be able to return small boats to the French coast.
Reform were asked how they would convince the French to accept migrants being returned to their shore and, unsurprisingly, had little answer.
If anyone was in any doubt about France’s openness to Reform’s plans, this was put to bed by a statement from the French government, saying it would be a “violation of French sovereignty as well as a violation of maritime law and international law.”
But, instead of acting like a grown-up party ready for government, willing to talk and negotiate with allies about diplomatic issues, Reform’s Sarah Pochin decided this was the time for a crass World War Two joke towards the French.
READ NEXT: ‘Defector’ Reform MPs projected to LOSE seats to Tory candidates at next election
In a post on X, she wrote: “Pity the French did not show the same resolve in defending their sovereignty in June 1940.”
The Runcorn and Helsby MP – who was born 24 years after the end of the Second World War – has been widely condemned for the tweet, with one of the main points of anger being that it is quite simply historically inaccurate.
A community note under the post pointed out that tens of thousands of French troops were killed during the Nazi invasion of France in 1940.
Others gave Pochin a much-needed history lesson on the bravery of the French Resistance throughout the war and the role French soldiers played in aiding the Dunkirk evacuation when it was famously British troops who had to flee.