The British far right has been predictably opportunistic and shameless, but also confused and divided, in response to the recent Hamas attack on southern Israel. A broad swathe of extremists, ranging from Nigel Farage to EDL founder ‘Tommy Robinson’, have tried to exploit the situation to promote Islamophobia. At the opposite pole are some of […]
Searchlight Exclusive: Well-heeled nazis in plot to obstruct UK’s planned Holocaust Memorial
EXCLUSIVE By Tony Peters Wealthy Holocaust revisionists across the world are planning a campaign against the establishment of a Holocaust Memorial in London. Plans for the memorial, intended both as a monument to all victims of the Holocaust and as a learning centre, have been advancing since 2015, but are now attracting the hostility of […]
From the archive: 40 years ago – when we first exposed NF links with fugitive Italian terrorists
It was 40 years ago…when Searchlight first exposed connections between Italian fascist fugitive Roberto Fiore and UK nazis like Nick Griffin. And all in connection with London tourist guides.
Anniversary conference exposes UKIP’s terminal decline
Thirty years ago, with much fanfare, the founding conference of UKIP took place at the London School of Economics with a very mixed audience of over 500 in attendance. This weekend, the 30th anniversary conference, again with much fanfare, was held in a former cinema in Newport, south Wales, but with only 65 in […]
Patriotic Alternative conference exposes weaknesses and international connections
Rogue’s gallery, left to right: David Clews, Laura Towler, Joel Davis, Mark Collett, Tony Hovater, Warren Balogh Fearful of internal splits and anti-fascist infiltration, Patriotic Alternative abandoned plans to stage their conference in an expensive hotel (as they have done at least once a year since the group was founded). Instead, they gathered in the […]
Nazis lied to charity to book conference hall
Left to right: David Clews, Laura Towler, Joel Davis, Mark Collett, Tony Hovater, Warren Balogh Patriotic Alternative leaders lied to a charity to book a community hall for PA’s annual conference. The conference was held at Waltham on the Wolds Village Hall, near Melton Mowbury in Leicestershire, last Saturday. As well as PA leaders, […]
UKIP stirs racist pot in Llanelli
As if things weren’t bad enough down in Llanelli, in South Wales, with the far right stoking up racist feeling in the town, UKIP now plans to hold a public meeting there, jointly with the far-right Voice of Wales, featuring anti-Islam campaigner, Anne Marie Waters. Waters, UKIP’s Justice spokesperson, was only recently re-admitted to the […]
International Nazi network meets in UK – The inside story
In recent weeks splits within Patriotic Alternative, the most extreme and active far right organisation in the UK, have widened. Fascists who until a few months ago were supposedly comrades in campaigns of race-baiting, are now bitter personal enemies. One significant development is that PA’s leadership have become even more explicit in identifying themselves with the […]
Pro-Ukraine nazi militia leader attended secret UK training camps
Images: top, Denis Nikitin, aka Kapustin, with his Russian Volunteer Corps in May this year; bottom left, camps organiser Larry Nunn (with loud hailer); bottom right, Arkadiusz Rzepinski, leader of the UK section of far right Polish group NOP [National Rebirth of Poland] This article first appeared in Searchlight Summer 2023 issue. THE LEADER OF a […]
Slick operator who led Italy’s fascist revival – Alfio Bernabei looks back at Berlusconi’s legacy
Silvio Berlusconi, 1936–2023 Photo: European People’s Party Silvio Berlusconi helped rehabilitate fascism by falsifying the historical truth and lying about the crimes committed in the name of fascism. He did this by using a mixture of ignorance and persuasion, laced with seductive doses of panache and bonhomie amid plenty of televisual entertainment. Over the […]
Proud Boys leaders guilty of seditious conspiracy – Leonard Zeskind reports
Convicted Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio (left), pictured with David Sumrall, founder of far-right media outlet StopHate, who is active in defending the 6 January rioters As Proud Boys face jail terms for their part in the 6 January riots, the ongoing realignment of forces on the Republican right continues. Leonard Zeskind reports On 4 […]
Looking into the abyss: Rushton bemoans crank populism while Griffin highlights the advent of new far-right parties
Downhearted Nick Griffin (left) and Peter Rushton (right) Images credit: Griffin (Searchlight) Rushton (Heritage and Destiny website) Two of the far right’s most influential figures have been perusing the movement’s recent local election disaster in May and have come to radically different – although similarly scathing – conclusions. Mark Scholl considers their deliberations The first figure in question is self-styled nazi […]
Book Review. Everyday Hate: How antisemitism is built into our world and how you can change it
Everyday Hate: How antisemitism is built into our world and how you can change it Dave Rich, Biteback Publishing, 2023, 320pp, £20 h/b, ISBN: 9781785907906 Paul Jackson, our regular commentator, reviews a book that provides a guide to the dynamics of anti-Semitism and offers practical suggestions on how to challenge age-old tropes Dave Rich’s excellent […]
Punk: Rage & Revolution, Leicester. Exhibition Review by Paul Sillett
Exhibition Punk: Rage & Revolution, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, Until 3 September. Free entry Punk culture played an important part in countering fascists, so come celebrate it, says Paul Sillett If you were at all touched by the ‘punk explosion’ in 1976, this exhibition is a must! It gives an incisive historical overview of […]
Theatre Review: The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, by Dario Fo and Franca Rame
The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, by Dario Fo and Franca Rame. Playing at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London. Until 9 September 2023 Andy Bell enjoys a hilarious new revival of a classic of political farce that does full justice to the comic heart of the original piece Transposed to London Daniel Rigby as The Maniac (all […]
A swap shop where the far right trades ideas – European Conservative Political Action Conference
Topping the bill at this year’s CPAC, Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán advocated a far-right takeover of liberal democracies, by following his example. Martin Smith gains an insight into the developing links between global extremists This year’s European Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held on 4 and 5 May at the Bálna Centre in […]
A Bridgen too far?
Kicked out of the Tory Party over coronavirus claims, MP Andrew Bridgen has now migrated to Reclaim. Martyn Lester surveys his career First published in Searchlight magazine (Summer 2023) The Reclaim Party, the right-wing political organisation best known for its frontman, the actor Laurence Fox, surprisingly gained its first member of parliament in May. As […]
OBITUARY: Jules Konopinski, last anti-fascist to fight with the 43 Group and the 62 Group
By Daniel Sonabend, historian of the 43 group Jules Konopinski – veteran anti-fascist On the 11 September 1949, the militant anti-fascist 43 Group, alongside communist allies, held a meeting outside Hackney Town Hall, preventing a march of Oswald Mosley’s Union Movement from commencing there. However, Geoffrey Bernerd, the 43 Group’s co-chairman, found himself confronted by […]
UKIP: desperate move to refill the ranks
UKIP is shifting further to the right, reversing a ban on former members of nazi groups, to include more ‘like minded people’, but the party has been in crisis for some time. Tony Peters follows its decline UKIP has moved significantly to the right in recent months with the lifting of a long-standing ban on former members […]
Far-right terror cases undermine Shawcross report
Far-right terrorist convictions have grown more than 15-fold since 2016, contradicting the argument for a greater focus on ‘Islamist’ activity. It is time for a reality check, says Huw Davies. First published in Summer 2023 issue of Searchlight magazine Pic credits: Counter Terrorism Policing North East/West Midlands Police/Metropolitan Police (names listed end of article) A […]