Former English Defence League (EDL) leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, has joined far-right party For Britain (FB). FB is led by Yaxley-Lennon’s close associate Anne Marie Waters and is best known for being supported by former Smiths frontman Morrissey. FB has attracted support from some former British National Party (BNP) activists. The party holds one local council seat and some parish council seats.
Yaxley-Lennon is also potentially facing jail again, after failing to attend a High Court hearing to answer questions on his finances. Yaxley-Lennon has previously been found to be in contempt of court on two occasions; for one of these he was jailed. His imprisonment sparked a wave of ‘Free Tommy’ protests, which pulled thousands onto the streets. During one of these protests in summer 2018, Craig Haxton, 32, from Glasgow threw a plastic bottle at police, kicked broken glass and yelled “scum”. At the beginning of March, Haxton was given an 18 month suspended sentence after admitting violent disorder.
Former UK Independence Party (UKIP leader Nigel Farage launched a new campaign for a referendum on trying to achieve ‘net-zero’. Farage is arguing that the UK government should not be attempting to bring down carbon emissions by 2060.
FB leader Waters announced plans to hold a protest against Black Lives Matter (BLM) in Bristol, calling for the statue of slave trader Edward Colston to be reinstated, after it was ripped down by a mob during the wave of BLM protests in summer 2020. The protest was cancelled after it became clear Yaxley-Lennon would not mobilise his supporters and the local police force would not erect a ‘ring of steel’ around the protest.
In a livestream broadcast by Voice of Wales, Waters said she was concerned about the size of anti-fascist counter-protests and the “threat of mob violence”. Waters revealed FB would head to Bristol for a ‘flash mob’ style protest without giving any advanced notice.
The hard-right Traditional Britain Group, which brings together the extreme fringes of the Conservative party and neo-Nazis for networking events, has announced it will be holding its annual black tie dinner on Saturday 21 May in central London. The dinner will be addressed by Jaak Madison, an MEP and deputy chairman of the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia.
On the first weekend of March, fascist party Patriotic Alternative (PA) held a national Spring conference at a hotel in Hertfordshire. This conference was organised in secret and consequently took place without any disruption by anti-fascist organisations. Numbers were down on the previous national conference as a result of the enhanced security measures. Several members took the opportunity to appear on camera as PA activists for the first time. This included Nancy Richardson, Barry Chappell and Matthew Darrington who were all identified by anti-fascist investigators Red Flare following the conference.
The PA-adjacent podcast ‘The Absolute State of Britain’ (TASOB) is “done for now” according to the pseudonymous Yuro, the longest running host of the self-described “Britain’s most racist podcast”. TASOB host and PA fitness chief Kris Kearns, also known as Charlie Big Potatoes, is claiming to have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for sharing neo-Nazi manifestos.
During March, PA Scotland recieved press coverage for a stunt in Glasgow to remember a white victim of a racist murder. PA’s North West region secured more press coverage for a stunt at a location where an Islamic Centre will be built. On their monthly update livestream for the month, PA leader Mark Collett announced that April would be the ‘Demographic Replacement Awareness Month of April’ (DRAMA), where they will attempt to distribute 100,000 leaflets, do banner drops, carry out stunts and attempt ‘groyping’. PA have gamified the month of action and are awarding prizes to the regions and individuals most effective at generating publicity for the ‘white genocide’ conspiracy theory. The leaflet distribution can be seen as preparing activists for PA eventually contesting elections.
PA East Midlands did homeless outreach in Derby, litter picking in Leicestershire and went climbing with PA Yorkshire. PA Eastern went to the Victoria and Albert Museum with PA London. The Eastern region claims to have had 24 activists at the Spring conference. The London region held a fitness and self defence training session in the garden of regional organiser Nicholas Hill before eating a roast dinner. Hill’s Catford property is the hub for all PA activity in London and appears to be being used for PA events regularly.
PA London went down to Dover to do a banner drop on a clifftop referencing the P&O sackings. They have also been teaching members how to service a car. The London region targeted a Black and Minority Ethnic education event where they distributed leaflets and recorded a video featuring Katie Fanning which was popular among far-right Telegram channels. Jody Swingler was also in attendance at the event.
PA North East did homeless outreach in Newcastle, visited Tynemouth and leafleted in Blyth, Springwell and Sunderland. Activists from the North East region also launched a business, Maypole Antiques. PA North West went on a couple of hikes and installed hedgehog houses.
The Glasgow stunt PA conducted involved over 30 activists. The Scotland region claims 12 members attended the Spring conference. Collett claimed PA Scotland now have 55 supporters in their vetted community chat, making the region one of the largest. They were also busy leafleting and producing digital propaganda.
PA South East held their first event run by their Kent contact. Like the London region, they are planning more home visits before adding people to their vetted community chat. The South East region also did an event which included a hike, litter picking and a banner drop in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. A similar event was held in Shere, Surrey. In the South West region PA held a hike in the Mendip Hills, were leafleting in Somerset and Wiltshire and held a social event walking along ropes in trees.
The Wales region claims to have been leafleting and carrying out spontaneous banner drops outside migrant hotels in South Wales. PA Wales and West Midlands held a joint social and cultural event in Shropshire. West Midlands’ Staffordshire branch held a banner outside a migrant hotel in Newcastle under Lyme. Activists from the West Midlands’ Warwickshire and Worcestershire branches held a social event in Stratford upon Avon.
Former animal rights activist Nancy Richardson is acting as the East Yorkshire local contact. One member of the Yorkshire region sold honey at the Spring conference as what appears to be a new PA-adjacent business. Alongside the North West region, PA Yorkshire distributed leaflets for the British Democratic Party in a local election campaign.
David Musins, 35, from Muswell Hill, admitted being a member of the banned neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action (NA). Former NA member Alice Cutter could be released from prison after serving just half of her three-year sentence. Cutter had joked about gassing synagogues and competed in NA’s ‘Miss Hitler’ competition using the name ‘Miss Buchenwald’
Four members of a “fascist cell” were convicted of terror and firearm offences after trying to make a 3D-printed gun. Daniel Wright, 29, Liam Hall, 31, and Stacey Salmon, 29, all from Keighley in Yorkshire and Samuel Whibley, 29, from Anglesey in Wales were jailed. During a raid of the home Hall and Salmon shared, police found an improvised explosive device, homemade explosive substances, chemicals and parts of a 3D-printed handgun.
Britain First (BF) leader Paul Golding was ordered to pay £75,000 to former lover Jayda Fransen, who is now leader of the British Freedom Party. Fransen had accused Golding of violently abusing and locking her in their London home to control her.
During March BF targeted a migrant hotel in Portsmouth prompting condemnation from the local council leader. The far-right party’s two minibuses were seen outside Dartford, in Newcastle and Scotland. Ashlea Simon gave speeches in the North West and to Yorkshire activists. Golding gave speeches to activists in the Eastern region, Scotland, West Midlands, and Yorkshire. BF also targeted migrant hotels near Heathrow and Manchester airports and in Southampton. They were also leafleting for the local election campaigns the party is contesting in south east London, Salford and the Welsh Valleys.
Anti-racist charity Hope Not Hate’s annual report on the British far-right was published in March. One of the headlines from the report was the revelation of links between the militant anti-vaccine group Alpha Team Assemble and PA-splinter Independent Nationalist Network. The report also describes how the far-right is recruiting with online fitness groups, shows how far-right conspiracies are becoming more mainstream, how far-right activists have exploited the bombing of Liverpool’s women’s hospital. The report also included references to the Failsworth Independent Party (FIP) and Proud of Oldham and Saddleworth (POS).
Declassified UK reported that members of the Ukranian neo-Nazi Azov regiment are believed to be receiving weapons sent to Ukraine by the British Ministry of Defence. Azov fighters were pictured with the Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW). Britain has sent 3,615 NLAWs to Ukraine according to Declassified. In the early weeks of the invasion, English Democrats chairman Richard Tilbrook was a guest on Russia Today.
London-based activists of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) distributed leaflets outside a debate on the French presidential election at the London School of Economics, complaining about their exclusion from the event. RN advertised a campaign meeting in London two days later.
Anti-Semitic conspriacy theorist Matthew Henegan, 37, from St Neots in Cambridgeshire, was jailed for more than 12 years. Henegan was found guilty of possessing, distributing and publishing documents to stir up racial hatred. Henegan had been putting “offensive and anti-Semitic” leaflets through their his neighbours’ letter boxes.
A 16-year-old boy from Leeds pleaded guilty to terrorism offences after making extreme right-wing posts on social media.
Charles Cannon, 20, from Aldershot, Hampshire, appeared at the Old Bailey charged with seven counts of possession of terrorist information. Cannon, who is believed to be a far-right extremist, is accused of having documents which include “details on homemade explosives, unconventional warfare devices and booby traps“.
Britain’s head of counter-terrorism policing Matt Jukes warned the police are seriously concerned about teenagers becoming far-right terrorists. Jukes said teenagers are becoming self-radicalised online and then progressing to actually planning terrorist attacks.
At the end of February, graffiti was found on historic buildings in York which is believed to have neo-Nazi connections because of the appearance of ’88’ in runic designs.
An investigation has revealed the Conservative Party is being lobbied by an anti-BLM youth group called Orthodox Conservatives which has links to right-wing think-tanks.