Something else.
A pro-Brexit Tory MP has been facing criticism online after making false statements about Europe and Britain after the Second World War and stating that Britain will not forget how the EU has acted during the Brexit negotiations.
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury claimed that there was “no Marshall Plan for us only for Germany,” in reference to American payments of some £12bn approved in 1948 to rebuild Europe following the war.
Mr Kawczynski’s full tweet said: “Britain helped to liberate half of Europe. She mortgaged herself up to eye balls in process. No Marshall Plan for us only for Germany. We gave up war reparations in 1990. We put £370 billion into EU since we joined. Watch the way ungrateful EU treats us now. We will remember.”
https://twitter.com/DKShrewsbury/status/1091728290337959936
However, his claim has been proven to be false by plenty of people online, with English military historian Corelli Barnett being cited as saying quite the opposite in a BBC fact file.
“Britain actually received more than a third more Marshall Aid than West Germany – $2.7 billion as against $1.7 billion,” Barnett wrote.
“She in fact pocketed the largest share of any European nation. The truth is that the post-war Labour Government, advised by its resident economic pundits, freely chose not to make industrial modernisation the central theme in her use of Marshall Aid.”
Kawczynski’s political colleagues were also among the hundreds of people highlighting his error on social media.
Labour MP David Lammy responded: “Is this a parody account?
“Britain received billions from the Marshall Plan and significantly more than West Germany or any other nation. Pick up a history book and you will learn that this brand of jingoistic nationalism is what tore our continent apart twice in one century.”
Is this a parody account? Britain received billions from the Marshall Plan and significantly more than West Germany or any other nation. Pick up a history book and you will learn that this brand of jingoistic nationalism is what tore our continent apart twice in one century. https://t.co/dIeuzRYazn
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 2, 2019
So, I'm trying to figure out if UK MP @DKShrewsbury is simply lying here, or if he is really this ignorant about history (The UK was the largest recipient of Marshall Plan money.) Or maybe he doesn't know how to look up facts before tweeting? Any ideas? pic.twitter.com/Qk6QEmy5g9
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) February 2, 2019
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