Neo-Nazi group British Movement and far-right group Patriotic Alternative hold joint demonstration in West Yorkshire
The neo-Nazi group British Movement and the far-right group Patriotic Alternative held a joint demonstration on Saturday in Castleford, West Yorkshire.
British Movement described the demonstration as an example of “pan-Nationalist co-operation”.
The groups also marched to the constituency office of Labour Party MP Yvette Cooper, the representative for the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford area. The groups also posted flyers through her letterbox which called for the ban of kosher and halal meat.
This stunt follows last month’s incident when the same flyers were posted through Jewish homes in Borehamwood.
Simon Fell, the Conservative Party MP for Barrow and Furness, said last week: “Groups like Patriotic Alternative promote division and fear. They have no place in our community.”
Earlier this year, a resident of East Belfast reported that he had a British Movement leaflet put through his door. The report of the leaflet came in the same week as stickers from the British National Socialist Movement – the successor to the British Movement – were found on street furniture in Manchester.
Founded during the 1960s and having supposedly dissolved in the early 1980s, the British National Socialist Movement exhibited antisemitism and advocated for violence towards ethnic minorities. The group now appears, however, to have reactivated, with a website currently featuring several antisemitic tropes and images, including references to “globalists” and “cultural Marxists,” praise for Hitler, and images of people performing the Nazi salute.
Patriotic Alternative is known for its efforts to recruit youth to its white nationalist ideology. Previously, the far-right group published an online “alternative” home school curriculum condemned as “poison” and “hateful” and attempted to recruit children as young as twelve through livestreaming events on YouTube, according to The Times.
It is led by the former head of the youth wing of the BNP, Mark Collett, who is reported to have dabbled in Holocaust denial, collaborated with the infamous American antisemite David Duke, and espoused antisemitic and racist views.
Earlier this year, the far-right group was found to be using the social media platform Telegram to create neo-Nazi channels dedicated to sharing vile messages, antisemitic conspiracy theories and images glorifying Hitler. A report into Patriotic Alternative published last summer found that several members of the group engaged in Holocaust denial.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.
