A latest report by Hope Not Hate has warned that said that years of dominance by Tommy Robinson and other figures focused on Muslims has been giving way to rising white nationalism. It highlighted that the British far-right is becoming openly racist in the wake of a backlash against international Black Lives Matter protests. It has also flagged up that the growth of the new Patriotic Alternative group, which openly calls for non-whites to be ejected from the UK, suggests a “shift towards more openly racial politics”.
According to author Simon Murdoch far-right activists were becoming “much more extreme ideologically” and an increase in migrant boat crossings over the English Channel and anger over so-called “cancel culture” had also had an impact in this trend. However, he observed that the rise of the Europe-wide Identarian movement and spread of a conspiracy theory claiming that white people are being “replaced” by non-whites has influenced extremists in the UK. Speaking to The Independent, he said,
“The biggest backlash has been to the Black Lives Matter movement. There is more willingness to discuss race generally across the far right now.
“There’s this move from people previously focused on other topics like Islam, and alongside that is a contingent of the young British far right who have been embracing more extreme and traditionally fascist, white nationalist and antisemitic ideas.”
Patriotic Alternative was formed last year by the BNP’s former director of publicity, Mark Collett, and has been attracting activists from across the far-right spectrum. Last weekend, it had displayed “white lives matter” banners across the UK in alignment with the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Now, it has emerged that the leaders are planning a third national conference in September.
On its website, Patriotic Alternative claims that “native British” people are being eradicated and proposes extreme measures to protect “the indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom”.
It says it would call a “complete halt” to immigration and pay people “of immigrant descent … to return to their ancestral homelands”.
Hope Not Hate’s report found that private online chats between members were “awash with extreme racism, Holocaust denial and open veneration of fascism”.
