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ITV’s Lorraine criticised for ‘Untermensch’ comment
TV star was accused of making inappropriate comparisons with Nazi atrocities
August 25, 2024 11:51
TV star was accused of making inappropriate comparisons with Nazi atrocities
August 25, 2024 11:51Broadcaster Lorraine Kelly has been criticised for saying that lengthy post-Brexit passport queues made her feel like an “untermensch.”
In an interview with Hugo Rifkind on Times Radio, the star of ITV’s Lorraine said she nearly missed a flight because of lengthy queues owing to Brits no longer being able to use passport gates for EU citizens.
“I’m fed up with going away to Europe and apologising…you feel embarrassed.”
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) August 24, 2024
Lorraine Kelly says queues at passport control post-Brexit make her feel like a “untermensch.”@reallorraine | @HugoRifkind
📻 https://t.co/t4wyLzOw2S pic.twitter.com/IY79s023WZ
She described returning back from Scotland’s football world cup clash with hosts Germany and said, “we nearly missed our flights because they had all this … kind of segregation … and you feel like some kind of like untermensch … you’re standing in this other queue for ages and then you have to go up to a different place to get your passport looked at and all the rest of it.”
The German word untermensch means “sub-humans” and was used by the Nazis to refer to groups they deemed “undesirable” such as Jews.
Lord Wolfson, a Conservative former justice minister, who is Jewish, reacted angrily to her comments. He posted on X/Twitter, “A few generations back, my family knew what it was to be treated as an “untermensch”. And they also had to stand in long queues. But not for passports. Yes, you ought to “feel embarrassed.”
A few generations back, my family knew what it was to be treated as an “untermensch”.
— David Wolfson (@DXW_KC) August 25, 2024
And they also had to stand in long queues.
But not for passports.
Yes, you ought to “feel embarrassed” @reallorraine https://t.co/CbjApe9cRB
Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism, wrote that “the mild inconvenience of queueing at passport control is nothing like being subjected to Nazi racial policy.”
Yuan Yi Zhu, an assistant professor of international relations and international law at Leiden University commented on a social media clip of the interview saying, "‘Untermensch’ means ‘sub-human’, the Nazis' way of referring to Jews, Roma, and other peoples they targeted for genocide. It doesn’t mean standing in a f***ing passport queue.”
Earlier in the interview, she lamented the result of the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union.
Asked whether she should just “suck it up” when it comes to changes resulting in Britain’s departure, Kelly said that “people were lied to, people weren’t given the facts”. She went on to say that she was “fed up of going to Europe and … apologising … you feel embarrassed”.
Both Lorraine Kelly and Hugo Rifkind have been contacted for comment.