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.

Fascists are back on the streets
Over summer British far-right street activity has significantly increased, with fascist group Patriotic Alternative (PA) joining protests against Drag Queen Story Hour by transphobes and other reactionary conspiracy theorists. These protests took place across the country, harassing a tour by a drag queen who was reading a book to children in libraries.
September saw PA’s take to the streets again for the UN’s Indigenous People’s Day where they pushed a ‘White Lives Matter’ (WLM) message. This day of action was joined by fascist groups in America, Scandinavia and several other European or settler colonial countries.
Counter-jihad activist Anne Marie Waters announced on 13 July that her party For Britain was ceasing operations as a political party with immediate effect. In the statement, Waters cited “masked black-clad activists” as one of the reasons for her decision to end the party.
Several of the former British National Party (BNP) activists who had joined For Britain have since switched to the British Democratic Party (British Democrats), including councillor Julian Leppert. The British Democrats also had former BNP member Lawrence Rustem, become a parish councillor in Kent, after standing in an uncontested seat in a village near Maidstone.
The end of September saw an anti-immigration protest by several hundred racist football hooligans in central London, partly organised by a member of the British Democrats.
PA continued to gain press attention for distributing leaflets and holding protests.
A terrorism extradition, an exposé and livestreams
One of PA’s leading figures, Kristofer Kearney, also known as ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’ was extradited from Spain to the UK in August. Kearney is being held on remand, facing two charges of disseminating a terrorist publiction and is set to face trial next summer.
Kearney, aged 37, had been based in Alicante but was arrested by Spanish police at the request of British counter-terrorism police. He is a former member of the now banned neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action and a former host of the Patriotic Talk livestream.
Kearney became one of PA’s most vocal supporters on the encrypted messaging app Telegram and became the fascist party’s fitness guru, with PA announcing he would lead their fitness club initiative. Spanish ex-pat newspaper The Olive Press reported that Kearney was linked to the MTK Global boxing gyms and had visited Dubai where MTK had a gym.
An exposé of The Ayatollah, one of Britain’s leading neo-Nazi YouTubers, was published by The Times. James Owens, who livestreamed on YouTube as ‘The Ayatollah’, was a former host of The Absolute State Of Britain (TASOB) podcast, published by the American neo-Nazi podcast network The Right Stuff (TRS).
As a UK-based TRS host, Owens acted as a notable node in the transnational Anglophone neo-Nazi network. Several leading TRS hosts appeared on Owens’ YouTube channel. Owens’ unmasking was reported internationally.
Owens had been involved in PA in its very early stages and was identified from attending multiple PA events which were under surveillance by anti-fascist investigators Red Flare. The Times produced a two-part podcast to accompany the exposé. Shortly after he was unmasked, Owens appeared on Greg Johnson’s Counter-Currents podcast. Earlier in the summer, Johnson appeared on PA’s book club livestream.
TASOB’s involvement in creating PA helped to cement links with the US-based National Justice Party (NJP), which was launched by leading figures in TRS. In early September NJP held their largest conference yet, which they claim had 400 attendees.
One of the guests over the summer on PA leader Collett’s weekly livestream Patriotic Weekly Review (PWR) was leading NJP &TRS figure Joseph Jordan, also known as Eric Striker. Other guests on PWR included Andreas Johansson of the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM), American neo-Nazi Gregory Conte, Jolene Bunting and Paul Stevenson from Northern Ireland and American ant-Semitic conspiracy theorist Kevin MacDonald.
PA’s WLM day of action on 9 August was supported by neo-Nazis and fascists around Europe and the English-speaking world. The NRM took part in the activities in Norway, Sweden and possibly Finland. Over a dozen photographs were submitted to PA’s website from across the USA. PA’s website also features images of the WLM slogan they claim to have recieved from: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, New Zealand, Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain.
In New Zealand, a council candidate was revealed to be a neo-Nazi who had previously interviewed Collett on the Action Zealandia podcast.
PA’s main activity of the summer, protesting against Drag Queen Story Hour, was inspired by similar protests held in America earlier in June, as described in a previous report.
Heritage & Destiny magazine held a conference in Preston at the end of September which was addressed by a number of speakers from the British far-right. Spanish fascist Isabel Peralta, who writes for the magazine, flew in from Madrid to deliver a translated speech.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism published an investigation into a far-right religious network centered around Citizen GO, which is attacking reproductive and LGBT+ rights.

Deportation flights fail to take off
The first flight deporting illegal migrants to Rwanda was cancelled minutes before take-off after last-ditch legal rulings. The government is challenging a decision by the European Court of Human Rights which blocked the flight and is threatening to withdraw from the European legal framework. The government is also planning to scrap the Human Rights Act.
June also saw the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which imposes greater restrictions on the right to protest and undermines human rights, come into law.
British neo-Nazi Alex Davies, who co-founded banned terrorist group National Action (NA), was jailed for more than eight years. Despite the demise of NA, British society should be vigilant to ‘lone wolf’ attacks by neo-Nazis according to Professor Matthew Feldman.
Four members of a “fascist” cell, who used a Telegram channel called Oaken Hearth, were jailed for sentences of twelve, ten, six and three years respectively. The group had tried to 3D print a gun and were convicted of a range of firearms and terrorism offences.
In the middle of June, the fascist party Patriotic Alternative (PA) held a hike where members of their North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire regions scrambled up Helvellyn in the Lake District, prompting outrage in the local media. The following weekend saw their East Midlands region visit Kinder Scout in the Peak District.
The trial of James Allchurch, better known Sven Longshanks, owner of the online neo-Nazi radio platform, Radio Albion (formerly Radio Aryan), was delayed by a strike. Allchurch has been accused of distributing racist and anti-Semitic podcasts. His defence barrister took part in a strike over pay, only the second time barristers in Britain have ever taken such action.
Former English Defence League leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon told a court he had spent £100,000 on gambling while receiving donations from supporters.
In the Wakefield by-election, Britain First got 1.1%, outperforming other far-right parties.
Drag queen story hate comes to Britain
The British far-right has started targeting drag queen storytellers, accusing them of sexualising children. This appears to be instrumentalising homophobic and transphobic hatred and an import from America. Fascist party PA has produced a leaflet titled ‘Stop Drag Queen Story Hour’ which its members have been distributing around the country. The leaflets were branded as “laughable” by one drag queen who had been targeted.
Far-right British conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson, who has over 1 million Twitter followers and nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers, promoted conspiracies about Coeur d’Alene Pride days before it was targeted by the American fascist group Patriot Front.
The anti-abortion Christian Right group Citizen Go led a campaign, supported by transphobes, to cancel a touring theatre production aimed at bringing sex education to family audiences. More than 40,000 people signed a petition against the show.
Byline Times reports that a charity linked to Hungarian leader Viktor Orban and the American Koch brothers wants to “take over” British schools and is “using the idea of free speech to promote pro-Russia narratives about the Ukraine war in schools and universities”.
The plight of Liverpool supporters who were attacked by police in Paris at the Champions League final was used by the French far-right in elections, according to the Metro.
American soldier Ethan Melzer pled guilty to attempting to murder members of his army unit by leaking information to neo-Nazis in an attempt to facilitate a deadly Jihadist attack. Melzer had been a member of the Order of Nine Angles (O9A) since at least 2017 and infiltrated the US army on behalf of the group, claiming court documents. O9A was founded by British neo-Nazi David Myatt and several former members of NA are believed to adhere to the philosophy.
Ray Hill, a former British National Party (BNP) candidate, who earned the second highest vote of any BNP candidate, passed away in May 2022. Hill had been a successful anti-fascist infiltrator in far-right groups after rejecting fascist ideology in the late 1970s, after seeing evictions of non-white settlers in South Africa under apartheid.

Sleepwalking to fascism?
The British government is “sleepwalking to fascism” according to a speech Scottish MP Mhairi Black gave in the House of Commons. Black cited the prioritisation of “a manufactured culture war”, the “terrifying” scrapping of the Human Rights Act and the government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda as examples of the shift.
At the end of May, Home Office officials announced the first Rwanda deportation flight would happen on 14 June. Around 130 migrants, including Syrian refugees, who arrived in Britain after ‘illegally’ crossing the channel, have been issued with notices telling them they will be on the flights. There is no ‘legal’ route for these migrants to enter the country and claim asylum.
The PCS union has said Home Office staff are working in a “culture of fear” and are concerned they may be asked to act illegally. An investigation has found the Home Office is housing asylum seekers in areas of far-right activity.
“Fucking Nazi bullshit”
Around 400 supporters attended Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson)’s Telford protest in early May, a big fall from the 900 attendees in January. During the protest, Yaxley-Lennon confronted members of the fascist party Patriotic Alternative (PA), telling them their “fucking Nazi bullshit” was “not welcome“. PA was violently ejected from the protest.
Far-right political parties performed badly in the local elections at the start of the month, with none of them winning any council seats. Britain First (BF)’s Ashlea Simon was the best of a poor bunch, winning 508 votes and coming second in her ward; neither of BF’s other two candidates did as well. For Britain failed to get more than 50 votes in seven of the 14 wards they contested. The British Democrats stood in four seats and the National Front only two.
Neo-Nazi terrorism is believed to be on the rise. Since 2017, 12 far-right plots to cause mass casualties have been stopped by police. The founder of two neo-Nazi terrorist groups, Alex Davies, was found guilty of remaining a member of National Action (NA) after it was banned. David Musins was sentenced to three years in prison for remaining a member of NA.
PA was the subject of a Dispatches documentary, featuring undercover footage shot at the group’s events. Far-right groups, including PA, were told they are “not welcome” in the campaign against plans to open a centre for asylum seekers in Linton-on-Ouse, by an MP.
An inquiry heard police leaders took a high-level decision not to infiltrate far-right groups at a time when fascists were intimidating and attacking ethnic minority communities in the 1970s.
Looking for America
An MI5 spy, described by the BBC as a “right-wing extremist with a violent past”, used his position as an intelligence agency asset to abuse his British partner. The spy was moved abroad to continue working, while under investigation. Despite posing a threat to women, the foreign national can’t be named as the government used the courts to block publication.
A private Telegram group chat, called Scottish Identity, was exposed by investigative news website The Ferret. The chat was used by neo-Nazis to discuss weaponry and plans for violence. Among the members of the chat are PA organisers and activists, including national administration officer Kenny Smith. In the chat, some members posted photographs posing with weapons, shared bomb-making instructions and quoted Brenton Tarrant.
One key chat member, Hadden Adam, of Elgin, Moray, bragged about his connections with the American far-right group Patriot Front. Adam said: “[PF] advise me on organisation with their group and stuff like that, so I think we could do something like that.”
Another member, identified by The Ferret as Shaun McAlonan from Stirling, claimed to be active in PA and said he had links with a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland.
In May, PA leader Colletts’ livestream guests included American anti-Semitic propagandist Adam Green from Know More News, American fascist Warren Balogh from the US-based National Justice Party, and American white nationalist Greg Johnson from Counter Currents Publishing. Collet also made a video offering advice to Nick Fuentes and America First. Collett continued his appearances on David Duke’s livestreams.
Teenage neo-Nazis are being inspired by US school shootings and mass murderers like Breivik, Tarrant and the Buffalo shooter, according to the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing. The trial of two alleged far-right podcasters, accused of calling for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ son to be ‘put down’, heard that they glorified Tarrant. A 14-year-old boy from Darlington was sentenced to complete a “high-intensity” referral order for 12 months after plotting a Columbine-style massacre. The boy became interested in neo-Nazi politics aged 11 and downloaded bomb-making instructions from the dark web.
Byline Times published a leaked recording of popular British ‘alt-light’ Youtuber Paul Joseph Watson, who has 1.9 million subscribers and has worked for the American Infowars website since 2002. In the recording, Watson could be heard saying he would like Jewish people to be ‘wiped off the face of the earth’ followed by racist and homophobic slurs.
Britain First leader Paul Golding’s ‘Long History of Pro-Putin Propagandising‘ was written by Hope Not Hate. Golding has previously travelled to Moscow to meet with Russians.
American author Scott Dragland appeared on a Hearts of Oak livestream to promote a book.
Buffalo shooting generates column inches
The Buffalo shooting on 14 May, where Payton Gendron killed 10 Black people and injured three other people, received extensive coverage in the British media. There is a dark web ‘scramble’ over the Buffalo attack, amid fears of post-pandemic attacks, according to an article published by London’s Evening Standard. Far-right attacks like the shooting are a consequence of unfettered free speech says one columnist at The Independent. The shooting was an example of ‘how white replacement theory keeps inspiring mass murder’ according to another columnist at The Guardian. Inews.co.uk published an explainer titled ‘What is eco-fascism?‘, telling readers about the ideology held by the gunman.
The Financial Times Rachman Review podcast ran an episode about Ukraine’s nationalists and the Azov battalion. Reuters ran an article about the Russian Foreign ministry accusing Israel of supporting neo-Nazis in a row about Ukraine.
Far-right American anti-abortion activists are coming for abortion laws in Europe after ‘victory in the US‘, says one writer in The Guardian.
The banning of a CasaPound march through Rome was reported by The Independent.
VICE World News ran a story about the impact Spanish far-right party Vox is having on people delivering workshops about gender identity and LGBTQ rights in Madrid’s schools.
Far-right conspiracies are going mainstream
Far-right conspiracy theories are becoming increasingly mainstream in the UK because of journalists promoting such ideas and government politicians embracing extremist rhetoric, according to an opinion piece published by Open Democracy. The author notes the idea that the “West is being overwhelmed by foreigners” will be familiar to anybody who “has read a tabloid, listened to a politician or watched a TV”.
Dated demagogues send video messages
In his capacity as the deputy chairman of the Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF), former British National Party leader Nick Griffin sent a video message to a ‘Forum de la nation et de l’Europe’ organised by the French far-right group Jeune Nation on 7 May in Paris.
The American ​​Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held its first event in Europe in Budapest, Hungary on 19 & 20 May. The keynote speaker was Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. The University of Kent-based co-founder of the Revolutionary Communist Party Frank Furedi was among the speakers. George Farmer, the husband of American conservative influencer Candace Owens, also spoke, as did Owens. Farmer was previously chairman of Turning Point UK. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage sent a video message.

‘Rainy Fascism Island’
In the middle of April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda, over 4,000 miles away. The issue of migration continues to dominate British far-right activity, but the government’s racist policies severely limit the appeal of far-right parties to the electorate.
Fascist party Patriotic Alternative (PA) spent the month spreading the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory, distributing over 100,000 leaflets to homes across the country and flying a plane, with a banner promoting the theory, over the largest football match of the year.
PA made repeated visits to a small village in Yorkshire, where the government is planning to convert an old airbase into a migrant detention centre.
Far-right parties Britain First and For Britain were standing candidates in the local elections being held at the start of May, so spent much of April campaigning. Former EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) promoted a protest against ‘grooming gangs’ to be held in Telford on 7 May.
Fertile ground for fascism, occupied by government
Britain is in the midst of a ‘cost of living crisis’, with rising prices, particularly food, energy and fuel prices, having an impact on household budgets. Prices have been rising for the past year and the war in Ukraine has exacerbated matters. This is the fastest rise in prices for 30 years, with some economists predicting UK inflation will reach 9% in April 2022.
Disillusionment with mainstream politicians appears to be growing with the Conservative government being dogged by a series of scandals. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor were both fined for breaching coronavirus lockdown rules. The right-wing media and several Conservatives have been campaigning for the police to investigate the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, who they allege also broke lockdown rules.
Several far-right parties stood candidates for the local elections being held at the start of May. A significant number of the far-right candidates in the elections were former members of the largely defunct British National Party (BNP), which continues to cast a long shadow.
Britain First were only contesting three council seats, in south east London, Manchester and Wales. For Britain were standing in 14 seats, well down from the 60 they contested in 2021.
Insular racists struggle to make friends
PA leader and former BNP director of publicity Mark Collett hosted several prominent American far-right figures onto his regular Patriotic Weekly Review (PWR) livestream. On 13 April, livestreamer Anthime Gionet, better known as Baked Alaska, appeared on PWR, in a coup for Collett who has struggled to attract prominent alt-right guests for some time. The editor-in-chief for Imperium Press, ‘Mike’, was a guest on the PA community stream on 24 April. Long-standing Collett associate, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was the guest on PWR on 27 April. American neo-Nazi Jason Köhne appeared on every PWR in April.
A report by investigative website The Ferret revealed PA’s Scotland regional organiser, butcher Simon Crane from West Lothian, hosted several prominent fascists on his regular PA Talk livestream. Last September Australian fascist Blair Cottrell appeared on the show. In November, Crane hosted American neo-Nazi academic Kevin MacDonald.
One of the founders of the banned neo-Nazi terrorist group, National Action, is on trial, accused of remaining a member of the group after the ban. During the ongoing trial, the court heard that Alex Davies from Swansea, visited the Buchenwald concentration camp in August 2016 where he made a Nazi salute in an execution chamber.
Anti-Semitic singer Alison Chabloz has been jailed for comments made on a radio station in July 2019. Chabloz was a close associate of ​​French neo-Nazi Vincent Reynouard. Before his death, Chabloz was in correspondence with French Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson and has written several articles supporting German Holocaust denier Horst Mahler.
French far-right party Rassemblement National’s London-based group, gathered in a central London pub to watch the French presidential election and support their candidate.
Prominent anti-Muslim hate preacher Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, was deported from Mexico at the start of April. Yaxley-Lennon had been attempting to visit the country on a holiday with his children and some associates.
British Army veteran Mark Ayres has spent two months in Ukraine fighting with the Azov Regiment. Ayres, who says he joined the unit by accident, claims he has challenged some Azov fighters over their neo-Nazi beliefs and says those he has met are not “monsters and psychos”. Ayres told Sky News: “A lot of them are decent guys, just with stupid views.”
The number of UK-based neo-Nazis fighting in the Azov Regiment appears to be relatively low for a handful of reasons. One factor is the proscription of National Action, the British neo-Nazi terrorist group which had close ties to Azov before it was banned. Another is the opposition to fighting in the conflict which has been promoted by PA leader Collett. In March, Collett made a video describing nationalists joining the conflict as ‘Walter Mitty’ characters.
Le Pen seems popular with British racists
The French presidential elections were extensively covered in the British media, with the prospects of Éric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen being discussed at length. The hard-right The Spectator magazine broke the news Zemmour would stand in the elections last November and has run complimentary interviews with him. Anne-Elisabeth Moutet wrote an article about Le Pen, headlined: ‘Le Pen drives Paris mad. That’s why her voters love her‘.
A survey by YouGov found that a substantial percentage of voters for the governing Conservative Party supported Le Pen, showing the extent to which her candidacy has been normalised. The results of this survey was reported by several outlets, with The Independent and The National highlighting the support for Le Pen from Conservative voters.
Ahead of the elections, commercial broadcaster Sky News published an article asking ‘How right-wing is Marine Le Pen?’ Telling readers that an ‘analysis of her policies delivers some surprising conclusions’. When the result of the elections were announced, many British media outlets celebrated Macron’s victory, while noting the gains made by Le Pen.
The military conflict in Ukraine continues to dominate discourse in mainstream media, with the far-right involvement attracting particular interest given Putin’s justification for the invasion. The right-wing, pro-NATO Daily Telegraph newspaper highlighted Russia sending ‘notorious’ neo-Nazi mercenaries to fight in Ukraine.
Anti-racist charity Hope Not Hate’s chief executive Nick Lowles wrote an article for The Metro, claiming the far-right is capitalising on political distrust with the Russia-Ukraine war.
Recent white nationalist interest in The Northman prompted an article in The Guardian, suggesting they were ‘reading too much into’ the film. The Guardian also covered the Peruvian prime minister’s praise of Hitler and subsequent wave of protest.
Cartoon villain becomes great hope for far right
Billionaire Elon Musk’s attempt to buy social media platform Twitter has attracted a significant amount of attention from the Anglophone far right. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) has used his Telegram account to celebrate Musk’s bid and the potential changes he might make to the platform, as have Britain First. Both Yaxley-Lennon and Britain First, who were both given high profile bans from the platform, set up new accounts on Twitter thinking they would be allowed to return. They were promptly banned again.
PA leader Collett dedicated two of his weekly two-hour livestreams to the topic of Musk’s bid and commented on it extensively on his Telegram account. Due to Musk’s comments about allowing free but legal speech on the platform and subsequent liberal outrage, many far-right activists optimistically saw this as a welcome reverse to the ‘deplatforming’ trend.
The French elections were also discussed extensively by far-right social media users. During April, Hope Not Hate produced reports on the online far-right narratives on immigration and Islam in the French elections, Zemmour’s rise on social media platforms and the role of the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory in the French elections.
A 19-year-old neo-Nazi who encouraged terrorism against Jews and Muslims was jailed for two years. The court heard the teenager had posted online about far-right killers Anders Breivik, Brenton Tarrant and Dylann Roof, as well as claiming the Holocaust was a hoax and that Jews controlled the world. The teen also shared Third Reich imagery.

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.