Singer Morrissey has sparked more controversy after reaffirming his support for far-right party For Britain while also claiming ‘everyone prefers their own race’.
The singer also said he believed Nigel Farage would ‘make a good prime minister’, sparking criticism of the former The Smiths frontman on social media.
But others supported the rock star and said he was unfairly targeted for his views, including saying the UK was a ‘dangerously hateful place’.
The 60-year-old has repeatedly denied accusations of racism but had promotional posters for his new album California Son removed from Merseyrail services last month a single customer complained about his religious views.
He also stirred up more controversy by appearing on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the US while wearing a badge supporting For Britain, which has called for the ‘end of Islamisation of the UK’.
Morrissey has caused more controversy after claiming ‘everyone prefers their own race’ and reaffirming his support for far-right party For Britain. He is pictured here last month on the Tonight Show in the US performing while wearing a For Britain badge
Angry social media users said they had ‘wasted their time’ on Morrissey’s music after becoming angry over his comments
Other social media users claimed Morrissey does not understand race and how it ‘transcends colour, religion and societal expectations’
Others poked fun at Morrissey’s famous vegetarianism and joked he would ‘attack critics with a daffodil’
His latest comments came in an interview with his nephew Sam Etsy Rayner for his website Morrisseycentral.com in which he again praised the party.
Morrissey said: ‘I think [For Britain’s] Anne Marie Waters is the only British party leader who can unite the left and right. I don’t know any other party leader who even WANTS to do this.
‘The UK is a dangerously hateful place now, and I think we need someone to put a stop to the lunacy and to speak for everyone.
‘I see Anne Marie Waters as this person. She is extremely intelligent, ferociously dedicated to this country, she is very engaging, and also very funny at times.’
He added the word ‘racist’ had become ‘meaningless’.
Morrissey said: ‘Everyone ultimately prefers their own race. Does this make everyone racist?
‘The people who reduce every conversation down to a matter of race could be said to be the most traditionally ‘racist’ because everything in life is NOT exclusively a question of race, so why make it so?
‘Diversity can’t possibly be a strength if everyone has ideas that will never correspond.
‘If borders are such terrible things then why did they ever exist in the first place?
‘Borders bring order. I can’t see how opposing Halal slaughter makes me racist when I’ve objected to ALL forms of animal slaughter all of my life.’
Morrissey said he’d never supported UKIP but it was ‘obvious’ Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage ‘would make a good prime minister’.
His views have once again split opinion with many on social media criticising him.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘My partner is black, I am white. What ppl (sic) like Morrissey will never understand is that real “race” transcends colour, religion and societal expectations.
Morrissey, pictured in 2017, also said Nigel Farage, right, would ‘make a good prime minister’
‘Humanity is the only race we know. It’s taking ppl rather a long time to catch on.’
Another said: ‘No, @officialmoz. Some of us prefer people who are kind, accepting and supportive of others; no matter where they were born, or what their skin tone is.’
And another wrote: ‘To think I wasted several years of my life following Morrissey and thinking he was clever and misunderstood. Every time he opens his mouth, something ignorant falls out.’
Others vowed to stop listening to The Smiths in response to his controversial words, with one former fan on Twitter claiming the music was now ‘tainted’.
But some defended his words and mocked those attacking him as ‘virtue-signallers’.
One Twitter user said: ‘Such a thin line between love and hate where Morrissey is concerned. Swap “race” for “company” and his quote becomes a Smiths lyric. Alas, the dogs scent blood.
‘Oh, the irony of a vegan torn apart by Woke virtue-signallers. Let them without sin cast the first tweet!’
Another wrote: ‘I certainly see the point you’re making. People generally prefer to live and function within communities that are familiar to them.
‘That being said, it doesn’t equate to “white people prefer white people and black people prefer black people”, does it?’
Others backed Morrissey and said he was being unfairly targeted by ‘virtue-signallers’ and ‘vicious intolerant liberal fascists’
One supporter even branded his critics ‘vicious intolerant liberal fascists’, particularly those who vowed to burn their Morrissey records.
Morrissey also offered his views on Brexit, saying the result of the referendum ‘must be carried through’.
The singer said: ‘I didn’t vote in the referendum although I can see how there is absolutely nothing attractive about the EU.
‘My view has always been that the result of the referendum must be carried through. If the vote had been remain there would be absolutely no question that we would remain.
‘In the interest of true democracy, you cannot argue against the wish of the people. Without the people, nobody in high office gets paid.’
Morrissey also claimed he was not asked to sing at a benefit concert for the Manchester Arena bombing victims because of his political views.
Referring to Oasis’s Don’t Look Back in Anger, which has become an ‘anthem of defiance’ in Manchester since the atrocity, he added: ‘I DO look back in anger! I would have sang “World Peace Is None Of Your Business” or “Life Is A Pigsty” – or something truthful and meaningful.
‘If my child had been killed at Manchester Arena I wouldn’t be lighting candles and swaying. I’d be in a complete rage.’