Ukip's poster boy for anti-EU advertising campaign turns out to be Irish migrant
Ukip is facing embarrassment after it emerged the poster boy for its controversial anti-EU advertising campaign is an EU migrant from Ireland.
Poster: Irish actor Dave O'Rourke played part of British worker
According to the Irish Post, Dubliner Dave O’Rourke was unmasked by his friend on an internet blog, and the title has confirmed the claim. O'Rourke has been living in Britain for the last 10 years.
The news will come as an embarrassment for Ukip, which used the slogan “EU policy at work. British workers are hit hard by unlimited cheap labour” in its posters, which are part of a major advertising campaign ahead of next month’s European elections.
The Irish Post quoted Ukip’s director of communications, Patrick O’Flynn, as saying: “The vast majority of people people used in political posted campaigns are actors. It is totally standard practice."
In addition, a Ukip spokesman said the party did not consider Irish people as foreigners.
“The Irish are simply not immigrants but our kith and kin,” he said.