The "Blame Game" - Why just blaming Muslims or Leftists for the rise in antisemitism is dangerous

A cursory glance at social media posts from pro-Jewish/ Israeli pages will soon reveal how contributors are understating or oversimplifying the root causes of modern day antisemitism. Many blame modern hate against Jews as being the fault of  "the Left", without ever clearly defining who they really mean. For some it refers to those on the hard left (Communists, anarchists etc), while for others it includes liberals, social democrats or those who associate their ideas with the Democratic Party.

But there is another sizable group joining the "Blame Game" and these are those who broadly support the Radical Right and point a grubby racist finger at Muslims, despite evidence showing most hate crime against Jews has led to the arrest of White British or American citizens. This is not to say that some Muslims are not antisemitic, or that a disturbing number of incidents have occurred where some Muslims have used various techniques to threaten or intimidate Jews, but, I would argue they are a minority amongst the larger Islamic population who wish to live peaceably. For those Muslims perpetrating threatening behaviour I would argue our judicial system is capable of inflicting harsh custodial sentencing and I would urge this to be put into action.

In the UK there are currently approximately 4m Muslims accounting for roughly 6.5% of the overall  population. Of these, it is believed about 200,000 could be described as 'radical', though not necessarily criminal. Unquestionably this is entirely unacceptable and no society can, or should accept rule by a minority desiring the implementation of Sharia Law. Indeed, this writer would argue if you do not like the rules of a country the solution is very simple - leave or we should help you. But all this is an entirely different argument and for another time.

In the UK last year there were roughly 4,000 reported hate crimes perpetrated against Jewish people and there are signs this may be on the increase, BUT there is no evidence Muslims are the key perpetrators, suggesting accusations of Muslim created antisemitic violence against Jews is both fallacious and dangerous.

As for arguing the fault lies with the "Left" this is also problematic. In the UK there is sound evidence of antisemitism in the history of the Labour party, the trade union movement, as well as other socialist movements. Indeed, it was Marx he myself, one of the founders of modern socialism who said: "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money". He added, "The bill of exchange is the real god of the Jew".

                                             Karl Marx

Now we do know in the last few years the Labour Party in the UK has had a significant problem with internal antisemitism. We also know the far Left have consistently pilloried Israel and pushed many lies to further the 'Palestinian' cause, arguing anti-Zionism is not antisemitism despite this they have  continually pushed a range of anti-Jewish tropes to justify their actions.

It is clear these opinion are not universal across the entire Left. In the UK there are number of sizeable Leftist groups and individuals who work hard to eliminate antisemitism (eg Stop the Hate, Runnymede Trust, Antisemitism Policy Trust), while in the US groups like Combat Against Antisemitism, Shine a Light, and the Philos Project do they part to eradicate hatred.

So while acknowledging there is evidence of Leftist Antisemitism, it would be wrong to argue this is universal, or that all left wing politicians are, by definition antisemitic.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum both the UK and US have long and deep roots in both fascism and Nazism. In the UK early signs were visible with the British Fascisti in the 1920's then, from this grew  the antisemitic British Union of Fascists under the leadership of Oswald Mosley who achieved an active membership of 50,000; statistics that obscure a far larger public support that could have taken the party to government had there not been a war and/or Defence Regulation 18b.

Similarly in the US, the violent and virulently antisemitic Ku Klux Klan attained an estimated 8m members and secured a strong influence within the US government. Admittedly, in both countries the membership of fascist groups declined but, this writer would argue their ideological roots have persisted and are fundamentally embedded in the culture and social mores of both countries.

                           .   Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington D.C., 1926.

Even postwar we can see evidence of active far-right antisemitic engagement in the political system of both nations (in the UK there is an early postwar lineage going back to Mosley's Union Movement moving through to the BNP and NF and more recent Patriotic Alternative, New British Union and Britain First; and similarly in the US we see the far right continuation of antisemitism within large sections of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, as well as countless far right groups present in every state. Add to that a more violent and dangerous type of antisemitic hate group in the terrorist organisation, Atomwaffen.Division).

Quite clearly, we see how postwar fascist or Nazi groups were forced out from the traditional political ingroup to a seemingly unwelcome outgroup - it became no longer politically acceptable to espouse race hate, but let us also never forget that previous members of these far right groups did not lose their sympathy for virulent antisemitism, they simply learned to remain silent, or find a way to sanitise it. Indeed, we have seen how a number of extremist far right politicians sanitised their past by later appearing moderate and mainstream.

The first action these 'hidden' fascists chose was to show how the US and Europe had learned from the Nazis and become civilised continents where hatred of Jews was in the past.

One effect of this pastification of antisemitism is that if people say that there is antisemitism in the air today or that they themselves are victims of antisemitism, they must either be mistaken, over-sensitive, delusionary or worst of all dishonest. Those who complain about antisemitism, or fight against antisemitism, or even wish peacefully to study antisemitism, cannot be right since it is already established that antisemitism no longer exists except on the fringes of right-wing extremism. The secret agenda some people see behind the ‘charge’ of antisemitism is that of defending Israel against its critics. We are told that the charge of antisemitism is abused in order to defend the indefensible. In this way, antisemitism appears as a ploy designed by Zionists to let Israel get away with murder. 

One dodgy presumption behind this argument is that Israel cannot be defended openly, so that its defenders have to resort to underhand tactics.  Another is that criticism of Israel is not ‘as such’ antisemitic or more strongly that no criticism of Israel can under any circumstance ever be antisemitic. A moment’s thought should disabuse us of this prejudice. It’s a bit like saying that no criticism of, say, India or Zimbabwe can ever be racist. If we criticise governments in India and Zimbabwe for being authoritarian or for abusing human rights, there might indeed be nothing racist about such criticism. But if we were to say that Indians and Africans are incapable of ruling themselves, we would be right back at ingrained notions of the superiority of the white race or of European civilisation.  

We must therefore come to the dangerous conclusion these 'hidden modern-day fascists', both left and right, have a vested interest in denying any existence of  antisemitism, for to do so would assume some kind of personal responsibility. When the data showed a rise in violence against Jews they were forced (as we saw being done by Leftist Jew-haters) to obscure their hate agenda by redefining antisemitism and their first port of call to achieve this is always Israel. They do it by arguing anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Put quite simply, the circle is then complete and both Left and Right are united in their hate.

What makes this disturbing in my mind is how elements within "our side" (ie Jews and our supporters) water down, or use sophistry or obfuscation to identify the genuine causes of antisemitism to suit their own political ends - and so,  the "right" blame the "left", or the "left" blame the *right", while, racists can blame it all on Muslims, thus preventing anything being done, so nothing changes, scapegoats keep being found and, as has happened for two thousand Jews continue to live in fear waiting with heads bowed for the next pogrom.

Political comment

If anything has become clear in the last two thousand years it is that an understanding of the 'oldest hate' will not come from a single explanation. Social scientists have worked for many years to do that and without success beyond a final realisation - there are many possible reasons.

When dealing with such a critical issue as the hatred of the Jewish people, there can be nothing more dangerous, more cruel and more heartless than to encourage reductionism. It excuses some of the offenders and people who perpetrate this reductionism protects those who are guilty, ignored or remain unidentified. 

It was Aristotle who said: “Not being of the same tribe is a cause of strife until they “breathe in sync” for just as a state does not develop from an accidental mob, so too it does not come together at an accidental time.”

Transparently antisemitism is one of the biggest 'strifes' society  has ever seen compounded by reductionists refusing to see the big picture and taking a deeply flawed 'blame a single bad guy' approach. In doing so they excuse hatred and harm those who fight to end antisemitism - and to those reductionists both left and right, I can only say one thing - for obscuring, justifying and minimising the hatred of the Jewish people, a plague on all your houses.

Farage and Robinson - Are they really friends of Israel

Amongst my readership there are some who have identified themselves as being overtly Islamophobic. Amongst these people are some who support  the thoughts and actions of the likes of "Tommy Robinson", Nigel Farage as well as  significant elements within the Reform Party and view them as heroes and true supporters of both Jews and the State of Israel.

But is this true? Are these people friends of the Jewish community or are they riding on our backs as a tool to attack the Muslim community?

Today's blog will try to tackle some of these issues.

First, let's look in depth at some of the personalities involved, because it is quite clear that, for the most part they are all highly charismatic personalities, well experienced in using the media for their own political ends. Of course, it could be argued in this respect they are little different from any other politician, but it is how they use their skills and whether it creates a threat to the Jewish community.

So, let us analyse the history and ideology of the personalities.

1. Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon)

Robinson first came to attention when he helped found the English Defence League (EDL) in June 2009. The EDL was set up originally as an amalgamation of football hooligan groups opposed to the presence of a small Salafi group called Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamah based in Luton, UK.As EDL beme more popular among the broad far right it expanded its remit to become a broadly ant-Muslim organisation, eventually with between 25,000 - 30,000 members and headed by Robinson. 

By the time he took the leadership of EDL, he was already an experienced political activist, having been a member of the UK British National Party (an organisation with significant Nazi roots and historical connections with infamous Nazis, including John Tyndall and Colin Jordan. The political scientist Chris Allen noted that the EDL shared much of the BNP's ideology, but that its "strategies and actions" were very different.

Robinson admits to his membership of the BNP, though has argued that he left in 2005 after a year because 'it was not for him'. However, his links to the far right did not end there - in 2012 he became vice chair of the British Freedom Party in 2012, headed by Paul Weston, a known antisemite and later, in 2019 Robinson became an active supporter of UKIP under the leadership of  Gerald Batten (a questionable character with considerable evidence of his antisemitic leanings).

                                                  Paul Weston

About the same time, he had a further fling with the far right by joining Patriotic Alternative led by Mark Collett, a known antisemite among the far-right community. PA itself is a political group known for its strong antisemitic leanings and clear links to the proscribed neo-Nazi terror group,, National Action.

Realising the risks of being associated with such an outfit, he quickly left and had a short fling with "For Britain", another short-lived far-right party headed by Anne-Marie Waters (an ex-Labour Party member turned neo-fascist) with links to a number of well known European antisemitic groups and individuals.

                               Anne Marie Waters

Robinson then calmed down for a while, only to reappear on a platform with Hitler look-alike, Alex Yerbury (yes, the one whose then girlfriend was a contestant in the far-right beauty pageant "Miss Auschwitz") of the National Support Detachment.

                                               Alex Yerbury

One of the greatest sources of confusion surrounding Robinson’s project is his claim to oppose antisemitism and his supposed support for Israel. For more than twenty years, Robinson has presented himself as a defender of Jews against Islam, invoking Israel's right to defend itself against jihadist opposition and framing his own street politics as part of that struggle.

Robinson’s alignment with Israel and Zionism can be best understood as a strategic adaptation to the historical defeats of British fascism. The 'new' approach responds to the question of how do you mobilise an authoritarian political campaign where openly Nazi symbolism and thought, including promoting antisemitic conspiracies  are heavily contested. In short, he has denied his inner antisemitic convictions by obscuring it under a shroud of supposed "Zionism" that is, in itself fundamentally baseless and only used  as an agent to attack Muslims.

If you think this is too harsh, remember this is a nan who remains an undischarged bankrupt, but according to Hope not Hate through lies and subterfuge today has access to over £3 million worth of funds.

2. Nigel Farage

                                                      Nigel Farage

While it would be wrong to accuse Nigel Farage of having links to the far right, he is no stranger to suggestions of him expressing antisemitic comments. For example:

Antisemitic Abuse: Multiple contemporaries have alleged Farage used antisemitic slurs, sang Nazi-themed songs, and made hateful comments, including stating "Hitler was right" and "Hitler should have gassed you all" to Jewish students.

Witness Accounts: Over 30 former classmates and teachers have come forward with accounts of racist or antisemitic behaviour by Farage, including accusations he led a group that harassed Jewish students.

Social Media: In a tweeted video message, Farage said the UK faced “cultural Marxism”, a term originating in a conspiracy theory based on a supposed plot against national governments, which is closely linked to the far right and antisemitism.

Mainstream media:  In a recent opinion piece for the Newsweek website, Farage talked about “unelected globalists shaping the public’s lives based on secret recommendations from the big banks”. Goldman Sachs was the only bank he mentioned by name, echoing another common theme from far-right antisemitism

Add to this his writing in a separate Newsweek column, Farage said Black Lives Matter was made up of radical socialists trying to destroy nationalism, “oftentimes funded by globalists”, another term linked to such ideas.

In response, the Community Security Trust, a charity that works for the safety of Jewish people in the UK, said in a statement: “This is not the first time that Nigel Farage has used language that evokes antisemitic conspiracy codewords ...". 

Andrew Percy the Conservative MP argued: “These conspiracy theories have real world and dangerous consequences and are without question antisemitic,” he said. “So now he is being put on notice. Farage needs to cut it out before he causes further harm by providing further fuel to racist antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories.”

Other commentators include Catherine McKinnell the Labour MP who stated: “Talk of shadow cabals, Soros conspiracies and other nonsense has repeatedly been proven to find its roots in anti-Jewish racism. His choice of language, which echoes some of that circulating amongst the far-right online, is worrying and getting worse.”.

So when Farage says he supports the right of Israel to exist I am inclined to ask why. Is it because of a genuine belief that Israel has a right to exist and is the ancestral home of the Jewish people, or is it because he wants a United Kingdom that is both Judenrein and Judenfrei.

3. Elements of the Reform Party

Despite recently establishing the Jewish Reform Group there is substantial evidence of deep-rooted antisemitism within the party. More importantly there appears to be little heart amongst the political elite to tackle the issue and indeed, it is not beyond fantasy that some may endorse it.

• A Reform activist who had been campaigning ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election was suspended over racist and antisemitic comments he made on social media.
• Another Reform candidate, Tony Mack, a psychotherapist and former black cab driver whose campaign literature promised to fix “woke ideology” and “discrimination against the people of Britain"  shared images of a well-known mural featuring antisemitic tropes. The mural depicts hook-nosed financiers counting money and playing a Monopoly-style board game on the backs of naked figures. The images of the mural shared by Mack was captioned: “If the people stand, the game is over.” When Mack posted the image on Twitter, he added the words: “Get up, stand up.” He also shared the image on Tiktok, writing that Reform was the only way to save Britain from the “globalist agenda”, 
• Or take Gary Farmer, chair of Brighton and Hove Reform Party who posted depictions of the Jewish Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband as a vampire (the version of Ed Miliband as Nosferatu was quickly deleted after posting 
• What about two parliamentary candidates who previously shared on social media material defending Adolf Hitler, denying the Holocaust, promoting conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family and Jewish financier George Soros, denial of antisemitism, and comparisons of the state of Israel with Nazi Germany.
• Or the Tameside Campaign manager include one in which he stated he "would never touch a Jewish woman", and another that appeared to downplay the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The latter was in response to a post by former UFC fighter Jake Shields, which claimed that the Holocaust’s death toll is "made up".

I could easily cite many more, but I will stop now for the sake of some kind of brevity.

Political comment

While I am no supporter of Nigel Farage, I think there are some problems accusing him of being an antisemite. In part this is because some of his actions go back to his school days. Now, if we are to accuse Mr Farage of wrongdoing because he sang old Nazi songs then, by that standard, we would also have to accuse Prince Harry, the Duke of Suffolk because he wore a Nazi uniform to a friend's fancy dress party back in 2005. Was the incident antisemitic? Or was it simply a tasteless and grossly inappropriate act by an immature 20 year old student? However, Farage's youthful outbursts must be contextualised alongside some of his later comments and writings. Taken as a whole it does lead to grave questions that need to be answered and, to date these have not been. With this in mind I feel the Jewish community needs to be extremely cautious before taking him under their wing.

Similarly with the Reform Party. While I acknowledge there are many genuine people in the party who support the Jewish community and are fully committed to Israel and its right to exist, I do feel there is extensive evidence to support the belief that antisemitism is endemic within the party and again, while this remains unresolved there is little reason to trust them. Just as Labour, Green and to a lesser extent Conservative parties have an unresolved problem with antisemitism, so too does Reform, perhaps more so.

The case of Tommy Robinson is much clearer. With a 20 year history of association and engagement with the far right across Europe and a blatant disregard for demands from Jewish community groups it is clear Robinson is only out to satisfy his own ends. His Zionism is non-existent and is only used to create further division between Jews and  Muslims. He is very far from a true friend and should be avoided at all costs

Latest Far-Right News Round-Up - February 6th, 2024

It's been a fairly quiet time for the far-right in the UK, but history has always shown that whenever a snake is quiet it is usually because they are planning something - a point activists and researchers may wish to consider as we slide into election year.

Once again, Patriotic Alternative’s Sam Melia is in trouble. Melia, an ex-National Action member was found guilty of running an online archive of downloadable stickers he created that the prosecution argue were designed to stir up racial hatred. Naturally, Melia is screaming he is innocent and arguing that all he was trying to do was "start a conversation".

What should be made clear her is that Melia has confirmed he was the head of the Hundred Handers, an anonymous group of activists responsible for a spate of anti-immigration “stickering” incidents between 2019 and 2021. During its heyday the group organised into two sub-groups  –  the Heads and the Hands. The Heads design stickers and posters, using specific printers to ensure their material does not run in the rain. The Handers then receive the material at the beginning of every month to disperse over their designated area.

Sam Melia

As part of their campaign to supposedly “start a conversation”, in January 2020, fake Extinction Rebellion posters were reported in Brighton. These included: 'Stop white genocide', 'House the world, destroy the environment' and 'population control in the third world'. Then in March 2020, further such stickers appeared in Bedford and in September 2020, stickers with racist slogans and linked to the Hundred Handers appeared in the Crookes area of Sheffield. Stickers were also reported in Scotland.

 

In June 2020, it was reported the group had put up messages in Canada, such as: "Never apologise for being white," and "There is a war on whites" and "It's okay to be white.”Further incidents were recorded when in 2021, Hampshire Police increased patrols and examined CCTV footage in response to the Hundred-Handers posting anti-immigrant, pro-white stickers in the town of Romsey, including some that read "White Privilege Excellence."

He will be sentenced on March 1^st.

 

On the subject of Patriotic Alternative, it is worth mentioning that well-known Pro-Palestinian blogger, Muhammad Dilmar ‘Dilly’ Hussain, who is no stranger to distorting the truth for political gain was happy to invite PA’s ‘fuhrer’, Mark Collett to his home to be interviewed for his Islamist blog, ‘5 Pillars’.

 

Mark Collett

 

Hussain is no stranger to controversy and has accused Tell MAMA (an independent, non-governmental organisation that works on tackling anti-Muslim hatred) in a Tweet on X that they are, in his words, “run by Zionists who support murder of children” and that it supposedly has “militant Zionist patrons and trustees”. Separately, Hussain has written a longer Facebook post in which he attacked Tell MAMA because he believes “their board of trustees and patrons are infested with hardcore Zionists.”

 

Britain First may face a little unpleasant publicity in Northern Ireland when former Belfast councillor Jolene Bunting goes to the High Court in a bid to overturn her three-year ban on seeking re-election.

Apparently, an appeal against her disqualification is being mounted amid confirmation that she will not be prosecuted over any allegations of fraud by misrepresentation. From what we are able to gather, her challenge to the sanction imposed by the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards (NILGCS) will not be heard until later this year. Ms Bunting, a former independent unionist councillor, was disqualified in February 2023 for breaching the code of conduct when the watchdog found she had brought her position into disrepute by doctoring a payslip in a bid to obtain cash from far-right party Britain First following a complaint lodged by the group’s leader, Paul Golding.

 

While on the subject of Britain First, it appears they told their supporters that “jihadists” burnt the officers of Conservative MP, Mike Freer in north London, even though the police already ruled out any hate crime motive. Two non-Muslim homeless people were charged with arson last month over the attack on Freer’s office in Finchley, but that failed to stop Britain First inciting its supporters against Muslims by trying to pin the blame on “radical Islamists.”

 

In a newsletter distributed on the 3^rd February, with the title “Radical Islam on the Rise,” Britain First told their supporters: “It has emerged that a sitting Member of Parliament has been forced to step away from politics due to attacks and threats from Islamist extremists. Mike Freer, representing a seat in London, had his office burnt out by jihadists. Mr Freer said he – and his staff – would wear a stab vest, and carry a panic alarm, when meeting the public on the advice of police. Mr Freer has received endless death threats, going back as far as 2011, from groups including ‘Muslims Against Crusades’, which was later classified as a terrorist organisation by the government and banned.”

 

It seems voters at the next general election will have the dubious delight of being able to vote for candidates representing the Homeland Party. The white nationalist group applied to the Electoral Commission (EC) last May to become a political party. Its application has now been granted and the group is officially registered, allowing it to field candidates at elections across Britain.

 

Announcing its registration with the EC, Homeland Party claimed it is “returning politics to the bedrock foundations of nation and community” and would be calling for a “binding referendum on immigration”.

 

Anti-fascist critics raised serious concerns, including the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), who said it is “extremely concerning when a far-right group successfully obtains political party status”. The Scottish Greens said Homeland’s “worldview has no place in a modern or progressive Scotland” and that voters would reject it. We can but hope.

 

Steven Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) remains in the news. It seems the former leader of the English Defence League and ‘friend’ of Paul Golding is touring the north-west of England whipping up hate by weaponising child sexual exploitation. As part of this ‘tour’ he descended on Telford in the West Midlands on 27^th January and announced he will go on to Oldham in Greater Manchester on 23^rd March. The ‘tour’ will concern democrats from all political persuasions amid a by-election announced for 29^th February in nearby Rochdale, another town in the north-west scarred by a child sexual exploitation scandal. It seems almost certain Lennon will use the tragic experience of child sexual exploitation in the city to scapegoat migrants and refugees. It seems almost certain he may receive further support from candidates like Simon Danczuk, the ex-Labour MP, who is now standing for the Reform Party and Billy Howarth, founder of Parents Against Grooming UK.

 

Finally, many readers will be aware that several ex-members of National Action have now either been released or will be due for discharge in the coming months. Among those now able to roam the streets include Matthew Hankinson, who was 24 when jailed for membership of the banned terror group, National Action (NA) in 2018. He was one of eleven people arrested in late 2017 as part Operation Harplike, an investigation launched by counter-terror police. Hankinson has been released having served a full sentence during which time he made and received no telephone calls; nor did he receive visitors or write or accept any mail during his time. During his time languishing under His Majesty’s pleasure, Hankinson resolutely refused to cooperate with rehabilitation initiatives and as such, having served a full sentence, he is free to live wherever he chooses without having to report to the Probation and Aftercare Service – this is despite the fact that many would still describe him as a high-risk offender.

 

Other notable NA members to have been released include, Alice Cutter, the highly reported runner up in the group’s disturbing ‘Miss Hitler’ competition and Mark Jones, her previous boyfriend, though a condition of their release was that they were not allowed to contact each other. Like Hankinson, Jones was released despite refusing to undertake extra work to back up a number of jail programmes he completed to address his extremist views.

 

However, unlike these little cherubs, Darren Fletcher, (aka Darren Clifft and Christopher Phillips) who was jailed for three years and four months, with an extra 18 months added on for breaching an outstanding order against him was released into the community on strict license conditions (similar to those applied to former members or adherents of Islamic State), Fletcher worked as an HGV driver and continued to brag he was still spreading hatred and that nothing could stop him. He proved as much by attending a hardline anti-immigrant rally in Walsall several months ago where he was letting everyone know that he was back up to his old tricks.

 

Darren Fletcher

 

Thankfully, his antics were being monitored and he was returned to court for breaching a criminal anti-social order and as a consequence is now serving a further four years in prison.

 

Well that about completes this news round-up. If you want to keep up to date, please subscribe, and above all – stay safe

Why the Homeland Party is a fascist party

With the recent split in Patriotic Alternative we have seen the rise in a new political party, the Homeland Party. This rather nauseous group of anti-refugee nationalists pretends to be in support of the democratic parliamentary process. However, a little digging quickly reveals the extent of its fascist pedigree.

Let's take a look at some of its key values:

1. They say they believe the most important unit in society is the traditional family and that society should be geared towards the promotion of traditional values and creating a safe place to raise children.

2. They support the ideal of a monocultural, high trust community (ie anti-immigration) where people help their neighbours.

3. They believe in the principle of a nation-state that truly represents the interests of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish people - so no place for ethnic minorities or multiculturalism

4. They also believe the countryside should be managed and protected by those who best understand the land and have put down roots. A concept that could have easily been taken from Mosley's British Union of Fascists playbook.

5. The Homeland Party also argue that the economy and private industry should be run for the benefit of our people, not multinational corporations or international finance.  As part of this they believe we should become less reliant on foreign imports and more self-sufficient, to maintain a sustainable domestic market of local produce and meaningful work. Quite clearly this is only a very short step away from the notion of the Corporate State as defined by Gentile and in this country by Alexander Raven Thompson.

It is transparently obvious from this analysis that the Homeland Party is nothing more than another fascist party dedicated to the elimination of our hard-earned Liberal democracy.

This is a party that carries traditional racist and antisemitic values close to its heart. David Gardner, a senior activist in the Homeland Party, writing on the Telegram social media site stated:

"If the jew doesnt do it with their holocaust myth to protect them, then no one else really does. If we removed the jewish people in those power positions, there is no route for this evil power to seep in White people”

You don't get much clearer.

Homeland may not be a sizable force but their presence is a clear indicator that fascism has not gone away, it has simply sanitised its propaganda to make it look more attractive.

As always, the price of peace is eternal vigilance. 

Fascist and PA activist Kris ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’ Kearney imprisoned for nearly five years

In the last twenty-four hours, another far-right extremist has been jailed – this time because he thought it appropriate to distribute the manifestos of terrorist groups online.

Kristofer Kearney

Kristofer Thomas Kearney, 38, who is probably better known within the far-right community as “Charlie Big Potatoes” and, until yesterday had an active Telegram account, pleaded guilty in March to two offences of disseminating terrorist publications.

The media are reporting that he is believed to be the first member of far-right group Patriotic Alternative to be convicted of terrorist offences, although it must be mentioned the group are not averse to working alongside those who have, or are later convicted of criminal offences. Last month, James Allchurch — who allegedly suggested a politician’s daughter should be raped was convicted of 10 of 15 counts of distributing material intended to stir up racial hatred via his online radio station, Radio Albion. The material included references to hanging black and Jewish people. Following his conviction PA  offered him their full support and condemned “draconian restrictions on freedom of speech”. Additionally, PA Talk (their nasty ultra-nationalist podcast) previously were happy to broadcast an interview with the far-right extremist and convicted criminal, Blair Cottrell who, among his many ‘achievements’ can boast how he is the former leader of the white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

As for Kearney, the offences relate to two Telegram posts that he distributed on January 23 and March 8, all in  2021. These posts disseminated dozens of documents encouraging extreme right-wing terror attacks, including the manifestos of Christchurch mosque killer Brenton Tarrant and Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway. Alongside this, he unashamedly distributed two other far-right manifestos related to Texas Walmart mass killer Patrick Crusius and John Earnest, who killed a Jewish woman and injured three others attending a California synagogue in 2019.

The court heard previously that Kearney told fellow Telegram users Adolf Hitler “showed people the way” and “did nothing wrong” as he shared posts encouraging violence against Jews and Muslims. He also shared a “Punish a Muslim Day” letter, in which readers were encouraged to “butcher a Muslim” for 500 points, remove a woman’s headscarf for 25 points and bomb a mosque for 1,000 points, it has been said.

During 2021, Kearney also posted a numbered list and links to 89 extreme right-wing documents.

An image of Kearney with a National Action flag was also shown to the court, which the defendant said was taken at an anti-grooming gang rally in  Darlington. Although he denied membership, he is known to have been an active member of the neo-Nazi group until a week before it was proscribed.

Kearns seen saluting with members of National Action

In his lacklustre defence, the self-described British fascist said that he was “horrified” to have shared videos which encouraged violence and described some of the phrases used on his channel as little more than a “rallying cry” for people to get involved in community groups. Instead, he argued they were not aimed at promoting violence and denied that his intention was to prompt anyone who saw the material he posted to then go on to seriously injure people or damage property – this is despite that on one occasion alone, he called for people to ‘Butcher a Muslim’.

Kearney told the court the point of setting up his channel was to “spread the right-wing and the fascist world view”.

At the Old Bailey, the court heard how material on Kearney’s Telegram profile did, in fact, depict or encourage violence in the battle against “white genocide”. After a rather long and somewhat tedious trial, Judge Richard Marks KC jailed Kearney for four years and eight months with an extended licence period of two years after finding the defendant ‘legally dangerous’. A notification requirement for a period of 10 years was also ordered.

The judge determined at an earlier trial of issue that Kearney shared the posts both recklessly and with the intention of encouraging terrorism, accepting that he may not have familiarised himself with all of the postings but rejecting the claim that he was completely ignorant of any material involving violence. He told Kearney on Friday:

“In this country, we have lived for many years in a multicultural society which most people regard as being enriching … Right-thinking members of any society regard tolerance, kindness, understanding and inclusivity to everyone regardless of their background as being of absolutely fundamental importance … Much of the material that you posted entirely negates those values and is extreme, vile, inflammatory, divisive and deeply offensive … Whilst I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that your entire agenda and intention was not throughout to encourage acts of terrorism, I conclude from the nature, extent and volume of the material posted that such was your fanaticism in achieving your state of objectives that you were prepared and intended at least in part for that to happen if that is what it took.”

The defendant, who was part of the Army’s parachute regiment for two years, regularly featured on right-wing podcasts called Patriotic Talk and The Absolute State of Britain, and had set up a channel called Fascist Fitness to hand out exercise and fitness tips.

As a result of his incarceration PA now have a vacancy for a new “Head of Fitness” – racists, hooligan and thugs are welcome to send their CV in to Mark Collett, but applicants are advised to use short sentences and single syllable words. Having said this, with the recent splintering of PA and the creation of the new Homeland Party, applicants may wish to consider whether it is worth taking a job with an organisation that will struggle to see out the rest of the year.

Welcome - I am back!!

First, and before I go any further, thanks for visiting my blog – I hope you’ll find it informative and interest you enough to make you want to come back. As I sued to 10 years ago, at the bottom of all my posts, I’ll leave space for you to comment, or ask questions on any of the topics, so feel free to participate in any way you feel appropriate. Most of my posts will be about fascism past and present as well as the far-right in the UK and some of my opinions won’t meet with everyone’s approval, particularly if you are, or have been a supporter of a British far-right, fascist or neo-Nazi group – so be warned. I’m not setting out to offend people, but equally, I think it would be dishonest if I tried to pretend that I have no opinion on the matter. I do (I would describe myself as anti-fascist) and with this in mind, you need to know that discussion and different views will always be welcomed, but any offensive comments directed directly towards me or any contributors will be deleted and repeat offenders will be blocked from making further comments.

Harsh I know, but I want this to be a safe space for moderate and liberal people to speak freely and without fear of being abused.

As for me, I first became “interested” in the far-right as a teenager and watched with interest and concern as groups like the National Front, National Party and British National Party grew and then faded away into near oblivion. It didn’t take very long for me to move from being a student sitting on the side-lines into becoming an activist and one of the early members of the Anti-Nazi League (ANL) in the South-West of England. As the years went by and the clashes between the far-right and ‘anti-fascist became fewer, I returned to being a student (albeit informally) as I was particularly interested in understanding their history and political ideology. In all this I was fired by a single question – ‘How could ultra-nationalist, anti-democratic ‘political soldiers’ attract support after all the misery and horror of the Second World War’?

I never really found an answer.

But what I did notice was that over the years, I heard liberals, left-wingers and ‘anti-fascists’ call their opponents “fascist”, “Nazi”, “far-right”, or “neo-Nazi” without regard for whether these labels were accurate. As I listened, it seemed most of the people were using these terms as abuse rather than with any concern for accurate political labelling. So, Margaret Thatcher became a “Nazi” with no evidence she was antisemitic (yes, that is how it should be spelt!) and Tony Blair was a ‘fascist’ because of his action against Saddam Hussein. Then, as this labelling became more common the power behind the words started to wane, until finally two mates drinking in a pub arguing about their local club football match might end up calling each other ‘fascist’, almost as an amiable (but with no offence meant) slur.

So, I decided to resurrect this blog, but this time I. I wanted to define these terms and see if others were also concerned about how we are watering down our language by using terms like ‘Nazi’. In all of this, I wanted to rediscover:

What is fascism?

What is Nazism?

What is neo-Nazism?

What do we really mean by the ‘far-right?’

With this as a foundation, I began to set about the task and as I did, I realised that it was impossible to discuss these terms without looking into the history of British and European fascism. So, it became clear that another aspect of this blog would be to go on to explore the nature and history of the far right in Britain tracing its roots from about the start of the twentieth century and following through to the present day. As part of this, it became clear to me that it was essential to look at the people behind these groups and how their views made them into some of the most hated people of their time.

I hope you agree it’s an exciting project and I look forward to sharing it with you.