The British far right is becoming more openly racist in the wake of a backlash against international Black Lives Matter protests, experts have warned.
A report by Hope Not Hate, seen exclusively by The Independent before its release, said that years of dominance by Tommy Robinson and other figures focused on Muslims was giving way to rising white nationalism.
The bigotry was always there, but it was toned down for PR purposes.
[The report author] warned that Patriotic Alternative was “trying to give the friendliest possible face to extremely fascist ideas†by using veiled terminology.
But Hope Not Hate’s report found that private online chats between members were “awash with extreme racism, Holocaust denial and open veneration of fascismâ€.
It said Patriotic Alternative had “antisemitism at its core†and played into conspiracy theories claiming Jews are orchestrating the “replacement†of white Britons.
There are strong parallels with UK anti-trans activism, sections of which are also openly bigoted: scratch a transphobe and you’ll often find an antisemite, a racist and/or a homophobe. It too perpetuates the conspiracy theory that Jews are orchestrating the “replacement” of white Britons, in this case women.Â
Patriotic Alternative claims that children are being exposed to pro-LGBT and anti-white “propaganda†and advocates home-schooling using its own package of hateful material on “history and cultureâ€.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell which group of bigots you’re looking at.