German dignitary gives “Nazi” salute to Olympic team at the Opening Ceremony

A German dignitary at the Olympic Opening Ceremony appeared to greet his country’s athletes with a Nazi salute.

The elderly man was caught on video repeatedly extending his right arm back and forth prompting a few awkward stares from members of the crowd.

Bizarrely he was sitting in front of Boris Johnson and Camilla Parker-Bowles who looked bemused at first before bursting into laughter.

Meanwhile a Conservative MP, who was demoted after attending a reportedly Nazi-themed stag party, appeared to describe the Olympic Opening Ceremony as “leftie multi-cultural crap”.

The comments, claiming the ceremony was more left wing than that which opened the 2008 Beijing Games in Communist China, appeared in a Twitter account purporting to be that of Aidan Burley, Tory MP for Cannock Chase.

The opening section showcased British history, including the creation of the NHS and the Jarrow march, a 1936 protest against unemployment in the North East.

Two tweets were posted from @AidanBurleyMP, saying: “The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen – more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?”

A second tweet read: “Thank God the athletes have arrived! Now we can move on from leftie multi-cultural crap. Bring back red arrows, Shakespeare and the Stones!”

Downing Street distanced itself from the comments, with a senior source saying: “We do not agree with him.”

The tweets, widely repeated, caused an avalanche of criticism on the social networking site including from a fellow Conservative, Croydon MP Gavin Barwell.

“@AidanBurleyMP with respect, us Londoners are rather proud of the diversity of our city £nothingleftwingaboutit,” he tweeted in reply.

Aidan Burley lost his job as a parliamentary private secretary after media reports of the party on December 3 last year in a restaurant in the French Alpine resort of Val Thorens, at which one guest is alleged to have dressed in an SS uniform and others are said to have chanted Nazi slogans.

The Cannock Chase MP has repeatedly apologized for being present at the event, but said in December: “I do not believe I have broken any French law and have distanced myself from the behavior of other people on the stag.”

A later tweet from the account said the previous comments had been ”misunderstood”.

“Seems my tweet has been misunderstood. I was talking about the way it was handled in the show, not multiculturalism itself,” it said.

The event, in which the Queen had a starring role, featured a diverse cast including James Bond star Daniel Craig and JK Rowling, merging music, dance and special effects into a spectacular opening.

The world-wide audience was treated to a greatest hits medley of British pop over the decades with bursts of the Beatles, the Jam, Sex Pistols and Dizzee Rascal.

There were also excerpts from the Kinks, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Mud’s Tiger Feet before Emeli Sande sang the cup final classic Abide With Me.