This short, highly readable book explores the growing influence of what Bloomfield and Edgar describe as the ‘populist right’. This is a phenomenon they see as related to, but distinct from, fascisms of the past. In about 120 pages of pithy analysis, they not only examine the growth and development of the populist right but […]
Research and analysis
“I’ll tell you who most despises so-called ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ – honest-to-goodness Muslims”
You probably don’t notice or think about it a lot of the time, but one of us may well be your doctor, your nurse, carer, teacher, delivery guy, train, bus or taxi driver. Or perhaps we are the owner of the small business or shop that you visit on a regular basis. But often you […]
Reform candidates benefit from low turnouts in council by elections
”We came a close second. The Conservatives got 1,304 votes. We got 977. Nearly a thousand votes in 4 weeks. We now have 5 months until the next one.” Thus trumpeted Reform candidate Tom Allison (above, centre, with Nigel Farage), proud of his losing bid to become an Essex County Councillor on Thursday. It was […]
Britain First: The end of the road?
As the party lurches from defeat to disaster, Mark Scholl wonders how much longer its leader, Paul Golding, can continue to kid enough people to fund his futile activities In 2016, Paul Golding and his ex‑girlfriend Jayda Fransen were able to lead several hundred supporters through Rotherham in a protest against so-called grooming gangs. This […]
A shifting kaleidoscope: the state of Britain’s far right at the end of 2024
The current crop of extremist parties and hangers-on follows the same pattern of chopping and changing alliances as in the past. Among this year’s newbies is the Homeland Party, which may – or may not – have prospects. Paul Gale reports This autumn sees Britain’s far-right facing fundamental choices. Searchlight has monitored the usual personal […]
Is ’two-tier policing’ real? Perhaps – but not in the sense the far right means
On 19 October the far right were granted their post-Southport riots martyr when Peter Lynch died at Moorland Prison. Lynch, aged 61, was just eight weeks into a sentence of two years and eight months for his part in the riot at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August. The cause of […]
Homeland Party conference report: oddballs, conspiracy theorists, Tory boys, nazis, racists, libertarians, pro-Russians, pro-Ukrainians, Brexiteers, one man and his dog….
Last weekend in the unlikely setting of a Derbyshire parish hall, the Homeland Party made its big pitch to be the future of the British far right. This is a party that by its own records had only 251 members before this conference, but it’s already overtaking its rivals Patriotic Alternative (from which Homeland split […]
Nothing funny about this Tony Hancock
A nostalgic post on Facebook yesterday, from Mark Cottrell (above, right), editor-in-chief of the self-styled nazi ‘intellectual’ rag, Heritage and Destiny: “I was in Uckfield in East Sussex yesterday” he writes, “so it would have been rude not to pop by and have a look at the old Tony Hancock Print Shop, which was used […]
Fascists offer Homeland to ‘respectable’ far right activists
By Paul Gale Britain’s far right is approaching conference season. So we can expect toxic politics of hate to be spewed in all directions, including vicious hatred among former comrades in the now chronically divided Patriotic Alternative. A realignment is under way, with previously “respectable” activists in UKIP and other milder versions of the far […]
The two-tier policing that is letting the riot ‘influencers’ get away with it…
Well, there you go then! That seems to be the conclusion of at least some on the far right regarding arrests and charges arising from the Notting Hill Carnival. Which ‘there’ this data is meant to lead us to is far from clear. There you go then… assemble a huge, predominantly black crowd and there […]
2024 European elections – a paradigm shift for the far right
This article originally appeared here on 14 June. It has been updated to include the far right realignments in the European Parliament following the elections. It also appears in the Summer 2024 issue of Searchlight, Shock gains for far-right parties right across Europe saw France face a snap election and Belgium’s PM resign. Although the […]
Settle back and enjoy the sideshow
This article first appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Searchlight The 2024 UK election saw far-right candidates bomb spectacularly but, warns PAUL GALE, even as we delight at the squabbling and scrapping among the factions, we must not get too comfortable and must stay alert to the gains made by Reform UK The British […]
After the Southport killings – who is responsible for the racist riots?
Who is behind the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and, when all said and done, just plain racist riots that have spreading across the UK over the last couple of days? Fascist groups including Patriotic Alternative and Britain First, who have done their damnedest to incite such angry racism for years, are secretly whooping with delight at what […]
Bungle in the Rumble: Mark Collett and Alek Yerbury trade blows in fash fight
By Mark Scholl Seventy years of hurt. Perpetual failure. Never had an MP elected. Scraped two MEPs in 2009 via the proportional voting system. Offer nothing except hatred and violence. Communities under attack. Ethnic minorities targeted. Terrorist plots failed. This is the miserable history of Britain’s extreme right. Its current representatives include Patriotic Alternative led […]
White Nationalist Motown Meltdown
By Chuck Tanner and Devin Burghart, IREHR On 15 June, influential white nationalist “Groyper” leader Nick Fuentes attempted to hold a fourth version of his America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC IV) in Detroit, Michigan. It was his latest move to pull the right in a more antisemitic and fascist direction. Amidst the chaos of […]
Knives being sharpened after extreme right election disaster
By Paul Gale As the dust settles on an election campaign which for them was universally catastrophic, the UK’s extreme right is licking its wounds and eyeing up potential targets for blame. The main factor behind their dire performance, of course, was the involvement of Reform UK especially after Farage announced his candidacy in Clacton […]
The election: breakthrough for Farage, disaster for the rest of the extreme right.
By Paul Gale It’s understandable for Labour Party members to be euphoric this morning. And anti-fascists outside Keir Starmer’s party might also be tempted to join in the celebrations and avoid looking too closely at the overnight results. That would be a mistake. After years of deliberate pandering to culture war rhetoric (in other words, […]
Yerbury outflanks Patriotic Alternative boss Collett and sets public showdown
By Paul Gale Alek Yerbury, founder and leader of the National Rebirth Party, and the chap with a penchant for pencil moustaches and military-style great coats, has again put pen to paper to offer a comment for the Searchlight website. Now, it has to be said that Mr Yerbury is, by a considerable distance, the […]
Italian antifascists march against fascist thuggery
By Mark Scholl Anti-fascists demonstrated in Rome last Thursday to protest about right-wing street thuggery – in particular the actions of a group of CasaPound fascists who had opportunistically pounced on and beaten up some passer-by students. The event drew opposition politicians, trade unionists and ANPI, the organisation dedicated to keeping alive the spirit of […]
Heritage Party conspiracy-nuts fight 41 seats
After Reform UK, the far-right party fielding the most candidates in the general election is the Heritage Party, a UKIP breakaway heavily involved in promoting conspiracy theories about vaccinations and other strange obsessions. It is putting up 41 candidates. They are standing against Farage in Clacton, and against the English Democrats candidate Steve Laws in […]