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 […]
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 […]
National Conservatism: gateway to the far right?
Concerns over falling birth rates and high immigration loomed large at the recent National Conservatism conference in London. Star turn, Conservative MP Miriam Cates, is exercised by both. But what’s the connection? David Edgar sifts through the rhetoric First published in the Summer 2023 issue of Searchlight magazine Credit: National Conservatism You Tube channel The […]
Far right parties humiliated in by elections
Far right parties were humiliated in yesterday’s three Parliamentary by elections. With none of the more mainstream racial nationalist groups (Britain First or British Democrats) running, the field was left open to those outfits peddling the gamut of post pandemic conspiracy theories focussed on the World Economic Forum and issue such as ULEZ, “15 minute […]
Britain’s nazis scrapping like rats in a sack
Image: Patriotic Alternative: Into the dustbins of history Last weekend Mark Collett’s pretence of promoting “nationalist unity” collapsed. He was only able to keep up the facade for a few weeks, and now trouble is brewing. PA’s split with Collett’s former number three man Kenny Smith is now bitter and permanent. And to make matters […]
Barbara Cohen: A life well spent fighting injustice and discrimination
Barbara Cohen: Friend, supporter and contributor to Searchlight magazine Searchlight’s team is devastated at the news that Barbara Cohen, a life-long fighter against inequality and injustice and a long-standing friend, supporter of and contributor to Searchlight, died suddenly last Thursday 8th June. We send heartfelt condolences to Barbara’s family and friends, and everyone who worked […]
UKIP – fallout starts after Nazi ban scrapped
Searchlight’s revelation last weekend that UKIP has ditched a ban on fascists and neo-Nazis becoming members, seems to have sparked a bit of a crisis in the party leadership. Image: Patricia Bryant resigned from UKIP on Friday Patricia Bryant, a member of the National Executive Committee, the party’s Agriculture Spokesperson, and lynchpin of UKIP in […]
Exclusive: Mutual suspicion and personal rancour plague UK Nazi unity talks – the inside story
It’s not easy for Mark Collett to eat even a few crumbs of humble pie. But after a disastrous split in his Patriotic Alternative group, reported last month by Searchlight, he has had to digest an entire plateful. Image: Mark Collett Desperate to reclaim some sort of credibility, Collett has taken part in “unity” discussions […]
UKIP throws open its doors to fascists and neo-Nazis
UKIP had opened its doors to let fascists and neo-Nazis join the organisation, ditching a ban on former member of fascist groups that has been in place since the party’s earliest days. The move is part of a further rightwards shift by a party desperately trying to avoid collapse. Membership rules before and after the […]
