Duncan Cough Luxembourg Liberation Lie BUSTED

After alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson once more made himself appear frit before the opposition of a few protesters, there had to be pushback, and as so often, it was aimed at those ghastly foreigners who still don’t know their place. So it was that former minister Iain Duncan Smith invoked World War 2. Wrongly.

As the Independent has told, “Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith dredged up memories of the Second World War, saying: ‘The irony is that Luxembourg was saved by Britain. National leaders should always treat one another with courtesy and civility. Good ones do.’”. If only he treated facts with courtesy and civility. But there was more.

The inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker are always up for a combination of jingoism and historical revisionism, and so it was that the Mail declared “Luxembourg was invaded by the Nazis in May 1940 and subjected to a programme of 'Germanisation' before it was finally liberated by the Allies in September 1944”, before dutifully adding “Former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith pointed out that Luxembourg was liberated from German occupation by Allied forces”. But which Allied forces were those?

That was not the kind of question to trouble the Mail, and nor was it going to stop the Daily Brexit, still calling itself the Express, as it thundered “'We saved you in the war!' Iain Duncan Smith fury at Luxembourg insult to Britain … IAIN DUNCAN SMITH has launched a ferocious attack against Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel after his extraordinary snub against Prime Minister Boris Johnson”. Yur! You tell ‘em!

And the Murdoch Sun has joined this Day Of Rage, howling “EU WHAT? Iain Duncan Smith rages that UK ‘saved’ Luxembourg in World War II after nation’s PM mocks Boris Johnson in anti-Brexit ‘ambush’”. In this particular and highly creative retelling, Duncan Cough has been upgraded from mere has-been to “Grandee”.

The rant continues in no style at all “IAIN Duncan Smith has raged that Britain ‘saved’ Luxembourg in World War Two after the tiny nation’s PM ranted at Boris Johnson for dodging an anti-Brexit ‘ambush’ … The move was slammed as a "cheap ambush" by MPs with Duncan-Smith fuming that Luxembourg - which has a less than 600,000 population - should remember who their allies are”. So who really did save Luxembourg in 1944?

Here we encounter the mystical art known as “five minutes’ Googling”, and especially The official portal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Here we can read about “The ordeal of the Second World War (1940-1945) … Twenty-two years after the First World War, on 10 May 1940, Luxembourg was once again occupied by the Germans”.

And the act of liberation? "On 10 September 1944, Luxembourg was liberated by the American army”. Moreover, “The immediate post-war period was characterised by reconstruction. Thanks to the American aid received as part of the Marshall Plan, significant progress was achieved in terms of modernisation and infrastructure”.

Duncan Cough - along with rather a large cohort of our free and fearless press - gets it wrong again. You never take Duncan Cough on trust. Because he’s a congenital liar.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet4