Migrant crisis intensifies, stoked by government rhetoric
Britain had two Prime Minister’s in October as the ruling Conservative Party (Tories) replaced Liz Truss with Rishi Sunak. Both Truss and Sunak appointed the hard right Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and the Tories appear to see cracking down on immigration as an issue they can campaign on. Under Sunak, Braverman described the arrivals of small boats in Dover as an “invasion”. Braverman has faced criticism for stopping migrants being housed in hotels and allowing the Manston camp in Kent to overflow.
Braverman’s comment came days after a firebomb attack on a migrant centre in Dover. Three petrol bombs were thrown at the centre by Andrew Leak, who drove to a petrol station and killed himself. An hour before the attack, Leak said he wished to “obliterate Muslim children“. Police have said the attack was motivated by extreme right-wing terrorist ideology.
Fascist party Patriotic Alternative had another attempt to register to participate in elections rejected and continued street activity. PA held a protest in Blackpool promoting a conspiracy theory about a murder of a girl at the start of the month. PA attracted press attention for two conferences, one in Scotland and another in northern England. One PA Scotland member appeared in a video which went viral of them attempting to recruit school children and then being mocked and chased off by the children. In south west England, a Swindon Borough Council employee was suspended after being exposed as a neo-Nazi with genocidal fantasies by anti-fascist investigators Red Flare.
The Traditional Britain Group (TBG) held its annual conference on 8 October in central London.
“It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world!”
The Charity Commission has frozen the accounts of religious charity The Saint George Educational Trust. The commission said they have “significant concerns that the charity has associations with an extreme right-wing organisation”. The charity, which was registered in 1995 by Italian fascist Roberto Fiore, has spent over £500,000 since 2018.
This year’s TBG conference was addressed by Christine Anderson, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) MEP. Stefan Korte from the AfD addressed the conference for the second year running. Other speakers included writer John Laughland and academics Edward Dutton, Helmuth Nyborg and Dr. Neema Parvini. The conference was also attended by Rassemblement National’s London group. TBG’s conferences have in the past been attended by leading figures from every group in the British far-right.
PA held a national conference at the Stirk House Hotel in Lancashire, attended by around 150 supporters, the same number they claim attended a conference in March. The hotel had been warned about the booking in advance but decided to host the event. One of the speakers was Andreas Johansson of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a host of the Nordic Frontier podcast and regular guest on PA-adjacent livestreams. Over the course of October, PA leader Mark Collett’s guests on his weekly Patriotic Weekly Review (PWR) livestream were Sascha Roßmüller, a politician from the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD), Quebecois white nationalist Jean-Francois Gariepy, American neo-Nazi Warren Balogh from the National Justice Party and Australian neo-Nazi Joel Davis.
British neo-Nazis have been particularly animated by the anti-Semitic utterances of Kanye West. Collett produced a video titled ‘KANYE EXPOSES JEWISH POWER‘.
The purchase of social media platform Twitter by billionaire and self-styled free speech crusader Elon Musk has also excited the British far-right. Britain First, who had been banned from the platform, rejoined within hours of Musk’s takeover being announced.
The alleged rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl by a migrant in France has provoked conversation and activity by British far-right activists. Generation Identity split Identity England held a small memorial outside the French embassy in London. They were joined by members of RN’s London group and Éric Zemmour’s party Reconquête.
London-based Caroline Farrow, campaign director for Christian Right group Citizen Go, has been arrested for allegedly posting transphobic messages on the controversial American forum Kiwi Farms. Farrow is a prominent ally of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
British far-right activist Katie Hopkins challenged American president Joe Biden to lock her up after claiming she’s in the US illegally.
A 61-year-old neo-Nazi from Sutton, south London was jailed for three years for making racist posts on the Russian social media platform VK.
The success of far-right parties in the Israeli elections has highlighted political divides among British Jews with leading community newspapers taking differing approaches.
British conspiracy theorist David Icke has been banned from the EU for two years by Dutch authorities ahead of a planned appearance at a protest in Amsterdam.
Popular author Alan Moore has claimed superhero movies, such as those made by Marvel, are a “precursor to fascism”. A day later it was reported actor Simon Pegg said Marvel films will help ease the ‘bummer’ of fascism in the UK.