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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Suomichris (talk | contribs) at 13:16, 23 May 2021 (→‎History: Let's make this say what the source says (affiliation and membership aren't automatically the same). RendAgenda, if you want it indicate that there's some dispute about that, you need a source.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Patriotic Alternative
LeaderMark Collett
Deputy leaderLaura Tyrie[1] (pseudonym Laura Towler)
FoundedSeptember 2019 (2019-09)
HeadquartersLeeds, West Yorkshire
IdeologyWhite nationalism[2][3]
Ethnic nationalism[2]
Anti-immigration[4]
Anti-Semitism[2]
Anti-LGBT[2]
Fascism[2]
Holocaust denial[2]
Political positionFar-right
Colours  Red   Blue
Website
www.patrioticalternative.org.uk

Patriotic Alternative (PA) is a British far-right white nationalist group which states that it has active branches nationwide.[2][4] Its stance has been variously described as antisemitic, Islamophobic, fascist and racist.[2][5][6]

History

Patriotic Alternative was founded in July 2019 by the British neo-nazi[7] and anti-semitic conspiracy theorist[8][2] Mark Collett, the former director of publicity of the British National Party. In September 2019, PA held its first conference, with Edward Dutton and Millennial Woes (Colin Robertson) giving speeches, among others.[2]

In October 2020, counterterrorism experts reported that extremist far-right groups including Patriotic Alternative were using YouTube to try and recruit people, including children "as young as 12".[9] Later that month, Patriotic Alternative members posted leaflets to over 1,000 homes in Hull, England, stating that white British people will be a minority in Britain by the 2060s and that the COVID-19 lockdown was an attempt to "take away our freedom".[10]

A group called the Antifascist Research Collective infiltrated Patriotic Alternative Scotland's private Telegram group. Working with The Ferret, the Telegram group of around 60 people was found to contain individuals who have been members of, or expressed support for, the Scottish Defence League, the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour, the British National Party, New British Union, the British Union of Fascists and the Scottish Nationalist Society.[11]

In February 2021, it was reported that Patriotic Alternative was looking to recruit teenagers through Call of Duty Warzone gaming tournaments.[3]

Tabatha Stirling of Stirling Publishing[12] wrote a series of articles for Patriotic Alternative as "Miss Britannia" describing her son's school as "a hellhole for sensible, secure White boys" and claimed "there is one member of staff who is openly gay, and I mean RuPaul extra gay".[13] On 14 March 2021, Julie Burchill announced that, with Stirling, "I've found someone who's JUST LIKE ME", now publishing her book after Little, Brown Book Group dropped Burchill after she made defamatory statements about the Muslim journalist, Ash Sarkar.[13] However, Burchill dropped Stirling Publishing when she found out that Stirling was associated with Patriotic Alternative.[13]

Patriotic Alternative's social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were suspended in February 2021 but some of its regional pages remain.[4]

In April 2021, Sam Melia, a regional organiser for PA, was arrested and held for five hours, regarding alleged racial hate speech and public order offences. His and his wife's (Laura Towler) electronic devices were seized; as yet the equipment has not been returned. Melia was released under investigation.[14] He has previously been affiliated with the neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action.[15]

Beliefs

Patriotic Alternative promotes a white nationalist ideology and aims to combat the "replacement and displacement" of white British people by migrants who "have no right to these lands".[2] They support deportation of people of "migrant descent", and would offer financially-incentivised repatriation for "those of immigrant descent who have obtained British passports".[2] Patriotic Alternative opposes all immigration unless one has a shared cultural and ethnic background or who can prove British ancestry.[2]

Members of Patriotic Alternative have supported holocaust denial, political violence and the white genocide conspiracy theory.[2][16] They have targeted the LGBT community as being a danger to young children.[2] Patriotic Alternative opposes Black Lives Matter and have displayed White Lives Matter banners around the UK, including on the top of Mam Tor, a hill in Derbyshire.[4]

References

  1. ^ "PATRIOTIC ALTERNATIVE LTD Company number 12759841". Companies House. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Murdoch, Simon (August 2020). "PATRIOTIC ALTERNATIVE - UNITING THE FASCIST RIGHT?" (PDF). HOPE not hate. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b Townsend, Mark (2021). "How far right uses video games and tech to lure and radicalise teenage recruits". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "State of Hate 2021". HOPE not hate. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Anti-fascists warn of new antisemitic group with neo-Nazi adherents". Jewish News. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 23 August 2020 suggested (help)
  6. ^ Tsagkroni, Vasiliki. (2021). "The British Far Right Has a New Voice of Unity". Fair Observer. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  7. ^ "YouTube cashes in on neo-Nazi's hate videos". The Sunday Times. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  8. ^ Cohen, Nick (18 October 2009). "How the BNP's far-right journey ends up on primetime TV". The Observer. Retrieved 3 August 2018. Earlier this month, Radio 1's Newsbeat cutely allowed "Mark and Joey, two young guys who are members of the BNP", to imply that Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole was not really British. It did not reveal that "Mark" was Mark Collett, the BNP's press officer and an admirer of Nazism, and "Joey" was Joey Smith, who runs the BNP's record label.
    - Laura Spitalniak, "Rep. Steve King compares backlash over white supremacy comments to Jesus' suffering", ABC News, 24 April 2019, "retweeting Mark Collett, a neo-Nazi..."
  9. ^ "Far right recruiting children on YouTube". The Times. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  10. ^ Mutch, Michael (27 October 2020). "'Utterly insane' far right group bombards Hull homes with leaflets". HullLive. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  11. ^ Billy Briggs; Jamie Mann (28 February 2021). "Exposed: Inside far right group Patriotic Alternative". The Ferret. Retrieved 12 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Cain, Sian. (2021). "Julie Burchill fires new publisher identified as a white nationalist". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Robbie Smith (16 March 2021). "Far-Right link of Julie Burchill's new publisher". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Patriotic Alternative - Neo Nazis Melia and Towler Arrested, Released For Now". Farrightwatch.net. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  15. ^ Judah, Jacob (11 August 2020). "British fascist behind secretive far-right propaganda network unmasked". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Turning Back to Biologised Racism: A Content Analysis of Patriotic Alternative UK’s Online Discourse". Global Netwrok on Extremism & Technology. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
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