Brexit Party MEP on slavery row: The point of the referendum was to free ourselves from EU 'shackles'

Martin Daubney said his Brexit Party colleague's comment had been "designed to create debate", and claimed she was "completely and utterly entitled and correct to use the language that she did".

Mrs Widdecombe sparkled outrage from some quarters in her maiden speech to the European Parliament this week, when she compared the UK leaving the EU to "slaves" turning on their "oppressors".

It prompted Lib Dem MEPs to demand an apology, while Labour MP David Lammy described her words as "offensive and ahistorical".

But her party has rallied round her, with Mr Daubney saying the negative reaction from opposition parties had been "entirely predictable".

Speaking on LBC Radio, he said: "Once again the Remain based media goes into a tailspin, our political opponents use one word from a speech to besmirch the entire speech, they put out the worst of history to represent what we stand for, which is entirely untrue.

"Ann Widdecombe is completely and utterly entitled and correct to use the language that she did."

He said that Britain had not signed up to what the European Union has become when it joined the Common Market. "We are disempowered by what they do," he added.

"We kneel before their laws, and the entire point of the Brexit referendum was to free ourselves from those shackles – and by the way, our present politicians are the tool that binds us to this.

"Brexit has not only broken British politics but it has broken the media stranglehold on how we have this conversation."

Asked if he felt "enslaved" to the EU, Mr Daubney said: "Ann has chosen a word of her own. My point is that we are not in control of our laws."

He said Brexit supporters had backed Mrs Widdecombe's speech, adding: "People were saying 'thank God' that somebody is finally having these brusque conversations and name-checking [Belgian MEP] Guy Verhofstadt.

"We are absolutely subservient to the EU. We want that to end and we are being prevented from doing that. These conversations need to be had."

Former Tory MP Mrs Widdecombe has stood by her remarks, telling Newsnight that her critics were acting in “melodramatic fashion”.

“I have not damned any memory of slaves," she said.

“I have not made a direct comparison, those were illustrative examples through history of how people can turn on those who are oppressing them.”

She added: “I stand by the fact that EU law and EU rule are oppressive."

The Brexit Party took a stand against the EU earlier in the week when its 29 MEPs turned their backs on the bloc's Ode to Joy anthem.