LONDON (AP) – Former London Mayor Boris Johnson expressed disapproval Tuesday over a poster showing a column of migrants wishing to enter the European Union – a view that underscores a deepening rift among campaigners promoting Britain’s exit from the 28-nation bloc.
Johnson, one of the most prominent campaigners on the “leave” side, distanced himself from U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who has been widely criticized for a poster showing non-white immigrants massing on the borders with the words “BREAKING POINT” emblazoned across it.
Britain’s anti-EU campaigners have long been bitterly divided but the squabbles appear to be intensifying as Thursday’s referendum draws near. Johnson’s Vote Leave won Electoral Commission approval to be the official standard bearer of the campaign, but Farage has fought on nonetheless.
Johnson told LBC radio the poster had “xenophobic undertones” and insisted the official Vote Leave campaign had nothing to do with it.
“I didn’t like it,” he said. “It seemed to be saying that these were bad people coming to our country. That seemed to be the message. I felt profoundly unhappy with it.”