Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab prompted fresh criticism today after claiming that the ‘Hitler salute’ frequently used by members of the far-right was ‘just a bit of fun’ that originated from the 1980’s TV sitcom ”Allo ‘Allo!’.
Raab, who was slammed yesterday for suggesting that the ‘taking the knee’ gesture linked to the Black Lives Matter movement had been taken from the TV show ‘Game of Thrones’, made the claim after being asked if he would ever mimic the salute, which was filmed being performed by racist protesters at the weekend.
“It’s not something I know too much about to be honest, and I understand that there was a certain amount of distaste expressed in relation to it being performed so close to the Cenotaph, but as far as I’m aware it was first used in the TV show ‘Allo Allo!’, so it’s probably just a bit of fun,” he said.
When pressed about whether or not he would be comfortable performing the gesture himself, given its strong links to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Raab said that he would mainly be concerned about being seen as a form of cultural stereotyping “which is something that we would normally leave to the Prime Minister.”
Critics were quick to pounce on the comments, with many stating that they reinforced the commonly-held view that Raab is dangerously unqualified to be the Foreign Secretary.
“This isn’t surprising coming from the man who didn’t realise that an island nation has to rely on a sea crossing in order to trade goods,” said a Labour spokesperson.
“I can only assume that when he watched the film ‘Dunkirk’ he spent most of the time asking why the soldiers didn’t just walk back to England.
“What’s next? Claiming that Churchill’s ‘V for Victory’ sign was taken from ‘Mrs. Brown’s Boys’?”
A Government official told the Herald that a statement clarifying the Secretary of State’s comments would be released in due course, though he refused to be drawn on rumours that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had made been attempting to locate the original copy of ‘The Stolen Madonna with the Big Boobies’ for Raab’s office wall.
