Director of Research
@hopenothate
Author Drums in the Distance: Journeys into the Global Far Right.
Forthcoming book: Rebel Sounds: Music as Resistance
COVER REVEAL!
I'm very excited to announce that my next book, Rebel Sounds: Music as Resistance will be published by
@WeAreFootnote
on 26 September!
#RebelSounds
It's available for pre-order now!:
Tommy Robinson just had a nightmare in court being questioned about his assets. He admitted spending masses of donation money on booze and casinos! Received hundreds of grand in cash and can’t remember what he spent vast sums on. Looked very rattled throughout.
Pictures have been circulating of this Nazi at the rioting in Sunderland tonight.
@hopenothate
can confirm it’s Craig Miller from Stoke on Trent. Clearer picture added.
Yesterday I was covering the far-right protest at Tate Britain. I was approached by a group of activists from the fascist group Patriotic Alternative. Their video of it has got some traction and lots of people are saying I shouldn't have called them fascists. Here's why I did:
The main person was Alec Cave (AKA Wesley Russell of Renew Britannia). In a message this morning he wrote: "Mulhall what is your ethnic background? You don't look Anglo-Saxon to me, too swarthy." Still have a problem with me calling him a fascist?
Full English Breakfast
A great start to the day but how long before some highly educated expert tells us our traditional breakfast is racist?
🍳🥓🌭🍄🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
🧵 Some info on Patriotic Alternative (PA):
👉 PA has extensive links to banned neo-nazi terror group, National Action. This includes leader Mark Collett who collaborated with NA in 2016 & Y'shire Organiser Sam Melia who was several links to the group.
His cameraman was Callum Barker, also an active member of the Eastern Branch of Patriotic Alternative. He is an Apprentice Trainee Construction Managers
@Overburyplc
.
France's far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, wants to show more of herself to voters before next year's election: She's a cat lover and a professional breeder of Bengals and Somalis. Her father was more fond of Dobermans.
Tommy Robinson was due in court today to answer questions about his assets. As he failed to show we
@hopenothate
thought it was time for us to publish some more details about what he’s hiding.
Still a long night ahead, but so far only tiny numbers of far-right in some locations and none in many others. Lovely to see such large and peaceful anti-fascist mobilisations all over the country today to defend communities. (1/3)
Tommy Robinson, Britain First, Patriotic Alternative and Homeland all urge their supporters to vote for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.
Fascist Mark Collett: The BNP's old leaflets “were actually markedly tamer than Farage’s current rhetoric.”
In response to news that
@elonmusk
is buying
@Twitter
lots of previously banned far-right organisations/people incl Tommy Robinson and Britain First have set up new accounts in the hope that they will be allowed under the new ownership. Big test for the platform and for Musk.
BREAKING: The far-right party For Britain has officially folded. After its recent spate of embarrassing election results leader Anne Marie Waters has ceased its operations as a political party immediately. Tommy Robinson only joined the party a few months ago.
Important!: Statement by
@StaffsPolice
: "There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."
My latest for the
@guardian
about this horrifying week of far-right riots and violence. Based n the work of the
@hopenothate
research team.
Some are calling these far-right riots an outpouring of legitimate anger. Ignore them. They are not
HUGE NEWS! In the latest blow to Andrew Tate it now looks like
@YouTube
have removed his channel 'TateSpeech' which had 768k subscribers + millions of views. HUGE win for the
@hopenothate
campaign which sent them our briefings and lobbied them about Tate.
Good news from France but let’s not let relief dissipate the shock of how well the far-right have done. Both the UK/French results are papering over some pretty big problems. The rising far right isn’t about single elections, it’s about a direction of travel over longer periods.
Here is everything
@hopenothate
know so far about last night's riot in Southport that came after the horrifying attack on Monday night. All the details of far-right involvement, spreading of mis/disinformation and how they have responded since.
Following his arrest Tommy Robinson has once again started badgering his supporters for donations to help with his legal fees. Maybe he could start by selling the Stone Island David-TC Ice Jacket he was arrested in which retails at £2,430.
Thread: Following a
@hopenothate
campaign, the misogynist Andrew Tate has been deplatformed by all major social media platforms. He's finally responded with a video in which he tries to totally rewrite his own history. It's long so we've watched it so you don't have to (1)
People like Matthew Goodwin and Nigel Farage have tried to excuse and explain away the racist violence we’ve seen in recent days. Saying they aren’t far right. Explain these images from the rioting in Sunderland tonight.
I've been getting frustrated with journalists/media outlets increasingly avoiding calling people far right in favour of an ever-expanding set of euphemisms or invented terminology. So I wrote this explaining what it is and why we should still use the term
Great article by
@SkyNews
about the
@hopenothate
investigations into the New Issues Group, a secret anti-Muslim group that’s been operating out of a Westminster for over a decade! Full investigation published by
@hopenothate
on Monday!
Finally been publicly announced that the English Identitarian Movement (formerly Generation Identity UK) has folded. Since launching antifascists (especially
@hopenothate
and
@SimonMurdochHNH
) have done great work exposing, infiltrating and hampering them. Antifascism works!
Thread: So Stephen Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) made a video this week saying
@hopenothate
can't keep going after his assets as he is no longer bankrupt and so no longer has any debts. Let me explain why he is wrong (1)
Thread: Far right extremist Tommy Robinson says he’s bankrupt and can’t pay the money he owes a Syrian refugee he libelled. We
@hopenothate
have been investigating TR for 6 months and think he's hiding millions in assets. Here's the story so far:
Remember everyone. Don’t concentrate on the asylum seekers in a hotel attacked by the far right or the Muslims at mosques being attacked. Matt Goodwin is the real victim this week.
What you are seeing -in the attacks on people like me- is a concerted effort by the elite class that created this mess to "manage" the debate and shut down dissent. Don't fall for it. We need to radically change the way this country is governed
Tommy Robinson has spent several years repeatedly saying ‘I’ll get arrested if I show this documentary.’ He then orchestrated and promoted its online release and then played it on massive screens in Trafalgar Square. He knew the law and chose to break it. Can’t complain.
.
@MaajidNawaz
twitter meltdown over the last few days is textbook example of an influential egotistical man reacting badly to being challenged. His responses have been aggressive, obsessive, intellectually dishonest and frankly embarrassing.
All looking quite quiet tonight so far which is great news. Still early, but tiny far right numbers in Crawley, Bathgate and Paisley. Not picking up much elsewhere either. Nice to see increasing despondency in far-right circles in the face of such large anti-fascist protests.
Horrifying scenes in Knowsley where a demonstration outside a hotel housing migrants and asylum seeker has turned violent and a police van has been set alight. The far-right's focus on migrant accommodation has significantly intensified over the last year (1)
Multiple Britain First supporters have been convicted of terrorism offences, as well as assault and burglary. The party plays a leading role in harassing asylum seekers. Members openly espouse highly racist views. Maybe you should investigate why you're engaging with them?
The idea that opposition to fascism might be a signifier of ‘extremism’ shows how intellectually bereft ‘anti-extremism’ can be and the absurdity of both sideism. Also further evidence of the crumbling of the societal anti-fascist consensus.
As heartening as it is to see such large anti-fascist mobilisations there is lots of work to be done organising in communities across the country where we have seen major outbreaks of far-right violence this week. (3/3)
Britain First leader Paul Golding has been pretending to live in Dartford where he is standing in the local elections.
@hopenothate
have reported him to the police for a possible breach of the Representation of the People Act 1983.
Thread: The
@hopenothate
campaign to reduce the harm caused by the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate has been really successful. He's already been removed by Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. But why did we feel he was dangerous enough to warrant deplatforming? (1)
The size of Tommy Robinson's event in London today is pretty scary and some of the speeches were very extreme. Read all the details in
@hopenothate
's write up of the day:
Lots of chatter about the EDL being behind Southport riot. The EDL doesn't exist anymore and Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) hasn't been involved with it since 2013. However, associates of Lennon were in Southport and rioters chanted his name. They are TR supporters.
Shockingly bad response from
@YvetteCooperMP
. After an extreme and at times blatantly far-right speech by Braverman she opts not to condemn it but to complain she didn't mention asylum seeker arrivals this week?! Labour has to stand against the far-right shift not exacerbate it!
Suella Braverman speech devoid of practical policies &divorced from reality of 13yrs of Tory failure
No mention of knife crime, shoptheft epidemic, fallen prosecutions or 1,000 arrivals by boat this wk
Home Sec who cares more about Tory leadership bid than solving real problems
Tonight the new documentary Doom Scroll: Andrew Tate & The Dark Side of the Internet airs at 9pm on Sky Documentaries. I’m in it discussing Tate’s alleged crimes, his misogyny, the nature of social media and the
@hopenothate
campaign to deplatform him. Check it out!
Request for help. We
@hopenothate
are currently monitoring 8 locations today, 9 tomorrow, 2 on Sunday with talk of far-right mobilisations. If anyone has concrete proof of possible far-right organising with specific locations please DM or email rightresponse
@hopenothate
.org.uk
Extremely worrying news out of Italy. With Hungary and Poland and after the results in Sweden last week this is further proof that the electoral far right is a dangerously powerful force in Europe. What’s most worrying is how unanimated most people seem to be about Italy.
Surprised the
@JewishChron
published a Douglas Murray article where he appears to claim Holocaust perpetrators were reluctant. Some were but it erases countless examples of antisemitic fervour in massacres. Possible to discuss the horrors of Hamas without Holocaust distortion.
Rumours circulating within the far right that infamous British Holocaust denier David Irving has died. I once met him while undercover for
@hopenothate
. It made me sick listening to him talk. A genuinely vile man who dedicated his life to spreading lies about the Holocaust.
Seen lots about this article.
@C4ARR
is an extremely useful resource and will remain so but this article is sloppy and well below the usual standard. I’m a proud anti-fascist and here’s why he’s so wrong:
This week I’ve seen respected people be antisemitic and excuse a terrorist pogrom against Jews. I’ve also seen respected people be islamophobic and frame any sympathy for civilians in Gaza or opposition to war crimes as support for Hamas terrorism. It’s a long road back from this
So rumours circulating within the far right that Irving is dead may be premature. A post on his website claiming to be his daughter says that he is still alive. Something about Holocaust deniers debating whether he is dead feels like an apt send off for him.
Rumours circulating within the far right that infamous British Holocaust denier David Irving has died. I once met him while undercover for
@hopenothate
. It made me sick listening to him talk. A genuinely vile man who dedicated his life to spreading lies about the Holocaust.
Completely sick of the Tories response to charges of islamophobia being ‘what about Labour AS’ and Labours response to AS crisis being ‘what about Tory racism’. Stop playing politics and sort out racism in your parties. It’s disgusting.
Hopefully nothing escalates this evening and we won't see any major far-right disturbances. However, certainly no time for complacency. There is still a large number of far-right events being discussed for this weekend and still high chances of spontaneous outbreaks. (2/3)
Good luck to all my Brazilian friends and comrades in the second round of the Presidential election. Stay safe and we’re all hoping you do the world a favour and remove the fascist Bolsonaro!
Today we
@hopenothate
release our annual State of Hate Report. This year it's packed with analysis, investigations and profiles of all the main far-right people and organisations. The profiles are also online this year! (1)
Fascinating piece of research by the
@hopenothate
exposing the individuals behind the recent riots and their links to far-right organisations and longstanding anti-migrant campaigns.
My book Rebel Sounds: Music as Resistance is out next month! It explores how music can be a form of resistance against racism and oppression. It's already had kind reviews by
@billybragg
@mrjamesob
@paulmasonnews
@PaoloHewitt1
! Available for preorder now:
This minute by minute, boat by boat ‘reporting’ by
@SimonJonesNews
isn’t serious journalism. It’s what the ‘migrant hunters’ do to create a sense of invasion and crisis. Where’s the context/analysis? He reduces asylum seekers to mere numbers in the same way the far right do.
Desperate for donations Tommy Robinson just released a new video in a £400 pound Burberry t-shirt. Surely this stuff makes his supporters reconsider donating to his endless begging emails?
Following his arrest Tommy Robinson has once again started badgering his supporters for donations to help with his legal fees. Maybe he could start by selling the Stone Island David-TC Ice Jacket he was arrested in which retails at £2,430.
Elon Musk has called himself a “free speech absolutist.” Yet he's issued legal threats against a charity that has criticised his record on hate speech. Now seems a good moment to ask why so many "free speech" warriors are actually massive hypocrites.
Excited the hard copies of my book have arrived!
It explores the global far right and tells the story of
@hopenothate
campaigns/infiltrations.
Available to pre-order now:
Amazon:
Bookshop:
Waterstones:
The data he is quoting here was provided by
@hopenothate
. It was after the first 3 group games when England were unbeaten. The data after the final showed an explosion of racism. Disingenuous to quote data from several weeks ago to play down what happened yesterday.
Part of me thinks that telling voters that Carl Benjamin and Mark Meechan are ADULTS who call themselves Sargon of Akkad and Count Dankula should be enough to stop them getting elected. I fear not though.
This is absolutely disgraceful from
@talkRADIO
and
@TVKev
. Steve Laws is not a 'social commentator', he is a well known far-right activist. Shameful example of normalisation of far right. Either they knew and didn't care or its extremely shoddy journalism.
What’s outrageous is your brazen lack of compassion. There are so many countries, most much poorer than the U.K., that take MILLIONS of refugees and asylum seekers and yet you jump up and down about thousands like it’s an impossible burden we can’t afford. Yuk.
This is simply outrageous. People who are perfectly safe in France brazenly break into Britain day after day. First it was a few, then hundreds and now heading towards a thousand in a single day. The French just waving them through with a cheery Bon Voyage.
Obviously Antifa isn't an org so this doesn't make sense. It's like saying he will designate vegetarians a terrorist organisation. However, IF he tries we may see a clamp down on various US anti-fascist organisations and people and we need to be ready to support internationally.
Not surprising but Dilly Hussain of
@5Pillarsuk
has now hosted former BNP leader Nick Griffin, founder of Britain First Jim Dowson and now nazi leader of Patriotic Alternative Mark Collett. Despite their long histories of islamophobia he has found common cause in antisemitism.
It's obviously too early to know what
@Twitter
is going to look like under
@elonmusk
but if he wants to know what a 'free speech absolutist' platform looks like have a look at Gab, Telegram and Bitchute. Paradoxically they end up having fewer voices being heard (1)
Nigel Farage has managed to frame a fight between him (a millionaire) and a super exclusive bank for rich people as a fight for ‘the little people’. It’s pure populist reframing and much of the media seems to be falling for it AGAIN.
Jair Bolsonaro and Matteo Salvini hold extreme right wing views. They have promoted hatred of migrants, women and the LGBT community. People who are serious about countering extremism would condemn their actions, not smile for photos with them.
The Holocaust happened and by debating deniers you legitimise the idea that it is debatable. 75 years of survivors and historians proving it hasn’t been enough to end denial. Also, if
@LozzaFox
debated Irving he would lose. False notion that the truth always wins in a debate.
The letter to
@NME
in 1976 that launched Rock Against Racism. Sent following an extreme racist on stage rant by Eric Clapton in Birmingham in support of Enoch Powell.
Thread: A new
@hopenothate
investigation has found and exposed the New Issues Group, secret anti-Muslim group at the heart of the British establishment. (1)
Just had the cover art sent over for my next book. British Fascism After the Holocaust: From the Birth of Denial to the Notting Hill Riots, 1939-1958. Out on
@routledgebooks
in September.
And there is plenty more to come that we will be publishing in the coming months. So when Lennon makes a video saying he is no longer bankrupt and so there is nothing that can be done, he is either ignorant of the situation or just lying to his supporters. (END)
How many times does it have to be said. The far right don’t believe in democracy. They may stand in elections. They may vote. They may talk about laws and rights. But they don’t actually believe in democracy. We are seeing that again right now in America.
Just finished the draft manuscript for my next book! It tells the story of the rise of the global far right through the postwar period up to today using stories of infiltrations, operations and campaigns for
@hopenothate
. All being well it's out this summer on
@iconbooks
!
Went on the
@TheNewsAgents
today to discuss what the recent wave of riots and violence tell us about the nature of the contemporary far right and the role of the mainstream.
"You hear people say 'I can't be far-right, I'm saying the same thing as our Home Secretary!'"
@hopenothate
's
@JoeMulhall_
on the problem of radical and far-right politics becoming accepted into the mainstream.
@lewis_goodall
|
@GlobalPlayer
Thread: The interview with Universities Minister Michelle Donelan on
@BBCRadio4
where she essentially argues we must "protect and promote" the free speech of Holocaust deniers shows up the fundamental issue with the governments new so-called free-speech bill. (1)
Great news.
@Meta
has now removed Andrew Tate from Facebook and Instagram (where he had 4.7m followers). This after
@Twitter
deleted his profile this morning.
@hopenothate
are continuing our campaign!
This is where the real issue lies. It's a sad example of the decline of the societal anti-fascist consensus and insinuates that anti-fascist isn't or shouldn't be a default position. Part of a wider shift towards believing fascism and anti-fascism are just opposing sub cultures.
3/
@C4ARR
is a pedagogical not an antifascist group. The work at CARR is not a political endeavour, with our Fellows having many different ideologies, beliefs, and perspectives. We are a broad church.
His main defence is that the awful quotes about women have been taken out of context. He moans that people take clips from longer videos and edit them into short clips that don't have context. Yet, that's exactly what he's been encouraging his supporters to do all year! (2)