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Posted: 2016-08-17 00:48:05

London:  He led the charge to see Britain exit the European Union.

Now, he has been seen queuing in line at the German embassy, prompting speculation that he might be seeking dual citizenship with EU-member Germany.

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), gestures whilst speaking during a news conference to announce ...
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), gestures whilst speaking during a news conference to announce his resignation as UKIP party in July. Photo: Bloomberg

A Facebook user reported seeing former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage standing in line the German embassy in London, Buzzfeed reported. The media outlet adding that the outspoken leader Farage "refused to deny a suggestion that he is attempting to apply for joint German citizenship".  When pressed on the fact, he told Buzzfeed, it was "none of your business".  

One factor that could explain his presence at the embassy is his wife. Kirsten Farage is German-born and the couple have two daughters together. Since his controversial sighting at the embassy, British political blogger Guido Fawkes has tweeted that Farage's spokesman said "it is 'not true' that he is applying for German citizenship".

The spokesman later said Farage "was at the embassy in relation to a personal matter. The idea that it's anything to do with German citizenship is complete rubbish."

The kerfuffle over Farage comes as a number of Britons mull pursuing EU citizenship. 

Hundreds of British Jews and their descendants, for example, have inquired about obtaining German passports in the wake of Britain's vote for Brexit, figures from the German embassy in London have shown. Some British Jews and their descendants are eligible if they were stripped of German citizenship by the Nazis. 

Applications for German citizenship from dispossessed British emigre Jews and their families - which normally run at just 20 per year - have spiked sharply after the June 23 vote which cast a pall of uncertainty over Britain's future relations with Europe.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, seen at the German embassy.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, seen at the German embassy.  Photo: AP

Thomas Harding, a Jewish writer whose latest work The House by the Lake tells the story of his ancestral summer home outside Berlin that was vacated after his family fled the Nazis in the 1930s, was among the first to stake his claim.

Nigel Farage speaking before the Brexit vote.
Nigel Farage speaking before the Brexit vote.  Photo: AP

"I heard about Brexit around 6am and by 9am I had emailed the German embassy in London asking how I could go about requesting citizenship," he said.

Under Article 116 of Germany's Basic Law, any Jew whose citizenship was revoked by Nazi-era ordinances passed between January 1933 and May 1945 is entitled to have it restored. The rule also applies to their descendants.

The German embassy in London confirmed yesterday that it had received more than 400 inquiries in the seven weeks since the Brexit vote, at least 100 of which have already been converted into firm applications for citizenship. And there may be many more applications to come when the details of Britain's post-Brexit relationship with Europe become clear, according to Michael Newman, the chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR).

"Immediately after Brexit a couple of AJR members called to ask about the process but, more anecdotally, when speaking to members, there is a lot of interest in doing it, particularly if living and working in Europe post-Brexit becomes more complicated for Britons," he said.

Mr Newman added that he had investigated seeking German citizenship himself, but his claim was complicated by the fact that his grandmother had lived in Germany but had fled to Britain using a Polish passport.

The AJR estimates that about 70,000 refugees came to Britain because of Nazi oppression, many of whom made great contributions to British life, like Sir Rudolf Bing, the founder of the Edinburgh Festival, who will be honoured in a ceremony at Glyndebourne today.

The AJR said it estimated that some 5000 former victims of the Nazi era were still living in Britain, meaning that - counting their descendants - several thousand Britons would be eligible to apply for German citizenship.

For many Jewish refugees and their descendants, the idea of taking up German citizenship is still "a deeply difficult dilemma", Mr Newman added, but the Brexit vote had opened minds to the idea.

Fairfax Media with Telegraph, London

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