UKIP Slammed For Using Great Escape Tune

UKIP has been told it should not be using the theme music to The Great Escape as part of its EU referendum campaign because the composer would not have wanted it to.

Nigel Farage's party has been playing the famous film music - which is often heard at England football matches - on its campaign bus.

But now the sons of the composer Elmer Bernstein have said their father would never have given his permission.

Peter and Greg Bernstein said in a statement to The Observer newspaper: "Our father would never have allowed UKIP to use his music because he would have strongly opposed the party's nativism and thinly disguised bigotry.

"He would surely say that The Great Escape celebrated those who bravely saved Europe from a horrifically racist, nativist and violent regime.

"He would hardly see UKIP as either a worthy successor of that cause or embodying the spirit of those who liberated Europe from oppression and hatred."

His sons added that their father had "very strong, mostly liberal" political views.

In addition, they said he "never allowed his music to be used for political purposes".

The joint statement added: "He preferred it to remain in the realm of entertainment where it originated, simply for people to enjoy, and not as a vehicle for political messaging."

A UKIP spokesman confirmed the music had been played on the campaign bus, but was unable to provide more information.

US-born Bernstein's music for the film, a fictionalised version of a genuine mass escape from a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, was one of dozens of soundtracks he composed in a lifetime in Hollywood.

The Observer said the rights to the piece are now owned by Sony ATV.

The composer, who died in 2004 aged 82, received 14 Oscar nominations and was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his 51-year career.