EU referendum: David Cameron is called a 'twenty-first century Chamberlain' in heated Question Time debate

The angry remarks came in a heated Question Time exchange as the Prime Minister made a last-ditch attempt to convince voters of the Remain campaign's merits

David Cameron speaking on BBC Question Time (BBC/Screengrab)

David Cameron has been accused of being a “twenty-first century Neville Chamberlain” during a Question Time special on the EU, by an audience member comparing the bloc to Hitler's Germany.

Members of the public were given the chance to grill the Prime Minister on Sunday evening as he made his last pitch for Remaining before Thursday’s referendum.

The audience was made up evenly of Leave and Remain supporters, but the questions soon became overtly hostile, with little support in the room for Mr Cameron’s claims.

And one man challenged the Prime Minister, saying: “ Mr Cameron, you say that your policy that you’ve negotiated with Europe cannot be overruled - it can.

"So are you really the twenty-first century Neville Chamberlain, waving a piece of paper in the air, saying to the public 'This is what I have, I have this promise’ where a dictatorship in Europe can overrule it? Simple question, yes or no.”

The man was referring to Mr Cameron’s attempts to renegotiate certain elements of EU membership in advance of the referendum, including limiting migrants’ access to unemployment and child benefits.

But the audience member suggested it was akin to Chamberlain's programme of appeasement during Hitler’s expansion in Europe. That Prime Minister led Britain through the first months of the Second World War, before being replaced by Winston Churchill.

Mr Cameron dismissed the comparison, saying: “What I can say to you is the other 26 Prime Ministers and Presidents have agreed it. They know if Britain votes to remain, they will implement it. This is not some empire and dictatorship, we’re proving through this referendum that if Britain wants to leave it, it can. We’re a sovereign country, we choose to join.”

Earlier on Sunday, other senior politicians from both campaigns made their final pitches for either side as they enter the last few days of the referendum campaign. Boris Johnson called for an amnesty for illegal immigrants who have been living in the UK for more than twelve years.

While Michael Gove, also from the Leave campaign, distanced himself from Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration poster, saying “When I saw that poster, I shuddered. I thought it was the wrong thing to do.”

Chancellor George Osborne also criticised the poster on behalf of the Remain campaign, calling the content: “disgusting and vile.”

The UK will head to the polls on Thursday, with results expected to emerge in the early hours of Friday morning.