Well, if the UKIP conference in Gloucester at the weekend was the low point of the fascist conference season, the annual get together of the Traditional Britain Group in central London on Saturday wasn’t very far behind.
It was held at the Paddington Hilton, a fact that Searchlight was able to publicise the night before leading to some angry phone calls to the hotel management. But the event went ahead nevertheless.
TBG are claiming some 125 attended. Our headcount said around 80 at the most. Committee members Gregory Lauder-Frost, Andrew Moffatt and Professor John Kersey jointly hosted it.
Excruciatingly tedious
It was, however, an excruciatingly tedious affair from start to finish, the sort of thing that dedicated Searchlight moles really shouldn’t be asked to endure.
As we have explained before, TBG positions itself as a defender of “traditional British values,” promoting monarchism, Christianity, and rigid social hierarchies. In fact, it acts as a bridge, bringing together far-right conservatives and others who are explicitly fascist or neo-nazi.
One of the most notable moments was when it conned Jacob Rees-Mogg into attending and speaking, despite being warned off by Searchlight. He later conceded this had been a mistake.
Homeland Party in attendance
This weekend’s meeting was attended, as it was last year, by Homeland Party leader Kenny Smith and a gaggle of his senior colleagues including Alec Cave and Adam Clegg.
Epping protest organiser Callum Barker, who split from Homeland last August, was also there but kept his distance from his former comrades.
Speakers this year included
- Steffen Kotre of the German AfD;
- Alexander Adams, the self-styled ‘artist, poet, critic and writer’;
- Ed Dutton, aka The Jolly Heretic, who has written books on racial differences, ‘woke eugenics’ and feminism and who equates feminists to modern witches;
- Leo von Hohenberg, or, perhaps we should say, His Royal Highness, Prince Leo von Hohenberg, the great-grandson of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, but a cheap date nevertheless;
- Michael Reiners, a lawyer and board member of the Great British Political Action Committee;
- Robin Tilbrook, solicitor and leader of the English Democrats;
- Valdas Tutkas, former Chief of Defence Staff of Lithuania (he was sacked);
- Gunnar Beck, a London-based legal academic who was previously an MEP for the German AfD.
- Ronald Schwarzer, a ‘provocative’ Viennese writer known for his nostalgic reflections on the Habsburg legacy.
The absurd decision to hold an uninterrupted three hours of very dry talks before a break was derided by attendees and many were seen leaving mid-speech, causing considerable disruption to those around them.
The only break for the entire day was an hour for lunch, which was agreeable enough for patrons of the Traditional Britain Group and speakers at the conference, who only had to travel to the next room for lunch.
Riveting topics
But the plebs had to leave the hotel and walk to nearby restaurants and pubs for their much needed break, leaving hardly any time at all to actually relax before heading back to the hotel for another two and a half hours of speeches on riveting topics such as: ‘Art on the far-right’, ‘The danger of the “GB News E-Girl”’ and Robin Tilbrook soliciting donations for his campaign to end religious slaughter in the UK.
Highlights from the day included a tour de force performance by the odious Michelle Renouf, who managed to question every single speaker on the issue of Jews and Israel, regardless of the content of their speech and whether it was related at all.
This was concerning at first and most speakers diplomatically avoided the question. But it soon descended into absurdity, and many attendees were in fits of laughter as she stood up again and again to ask questions to which she surely knew she wouldn’t get an answer.
Incoherent rambling
Another elderly also frequently stood to ask questions, though this is perhaps too strong a word for it; he mostly rattled on incoherently for a few minutes before being cut off by Gregory Lauder-Frost.
But despite his ramblings, he was repeatedly called upon when the speakers were taking questions.
It was a merciful relief for most when an end was called to the proceedings.
