Czech Republic has been considering relocation of Syrian orphans. Czech far-right party “Freedom and Direct Democracy” SPD opposed the proposal and decided to organize an online poll in order to get support for their stance. However, 73% of the people who joined the survey supported helping the orphans. SPD quickly erased the poll from their website.
References:
“Czech far-right supporters expose their party, back Syrian orphans” EurActiv 22.2.2019
As Brexit is getting closer, political disintegration seems to continue in Britain. Jeremy Hosking, a multimillionaire financier, has registered a new party Brexit Express in order to support “hard Brexit” – the move increases the risk that the Conservative Party may split (1). Today seven MPs resigned from the Labour Party. According to them, the British politics is “broken” and the Labour Party has been taken over by “hard left.” They also criticized the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, as well as “antisemitism” and “racism” in the party. (2) One of the defectors, Luciana Berger, accused Labour Party of “institutional antisemitism” (3). Another defector, Angela Smith, caused a racism row by saying that members of ethnic minorities are of a “funny tinge” (4).
The British organization Hope not Hate published their annual “State of Hate Report.” According to the report, “Britain is increasingly divided and that is likely to increase” whatever happens with Brexit. There is also a growing risk of far right terrorism and increasing support for far right. The report also states that “anti-Muslim prejudice has replaced immigration as the key driver of far right growth”, but also attitudes towards immigration “are deteriorating.” The report also pays attention to the antisemitism problem in the Labour Party. On the other hand, Islamophobia seems to have become a significant problem in the Conservative Party. According to the report, “49% of 2017 Conservative voters think that Islam is incompatible to the British way of life and 47% think there are no go areas in Britain where sharia law dominates and non-Muslims cannot enter.” (5)
References:
1) “No-dealers dig in for a fresh battle amid fears of Tory split” The Guardian 17.2.2019
2) “In their own words: why seven MPs are quitting Labour” The Guardian 18.2.2019
3) “MP says UK Labour is ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’ as 7 lawmakers quit party” The Times of Israel 18.2.2019
4) “Britain’s newest political group isn’t even a day old. It’s already been accused of racism” The Washington Post 18.2.2019
5) “State of Hate Report 2019” – Hope not Hate 17.2.2019
https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/research/state-of-hate-report-2019/
Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has turned out to be a chaotic cliffhanger. Brexit has divided the nation, it has torn apart political parties and even families. Britain has also seen significant rise of far-right populism, xenophobia, racism and hate crimes. According to statistics published by the police in England and Wales, over 94 000 hate crime offences were recorded during 2017/18, an increase of 17 % compared to the previous year. The increase during 2016/17 was even greater, 29 %. The number of hate crimes recorded by the police has more than doubled since 2012/13. Even though the increase can be partially explained by improvements in crime recording by the police, there have been clear “spikes” in hate crime after the EU Referendum in 2016 and after the terrorist attacks in 2017 (1, 2, 3, 4).
One form of far-right populism has been the increasingly aggressive activity against politicians and other people who support the Remain option. Tory MP Anna Soubry was intimidated and abused by British far-right mobsters and supporters of Brexit on Monday. The pro-Brexit protesters called remain-backing Soubry “a Nazi”. Mrs Soubry was harassed and intimidated the same way already in December last year (5). Other people harassed on Monday were journalist Owen Jones from The Guardian and Femi Oluwole, chief spokesperson for Our Future, Our Choice. Mr. Oluwole condemned the abuse and threatening behavior of the pro-Brexit protesters. He added:
“Plenty of people around the country are frustrated with the Brexit process – and all but a tiny minority continue to engage in reasonable democratic debate. This debate is absolutely crucial given the vastly different and country-defining options the UK faces. We must be able to have it without feeling like some options are unacceptable because a tiny minority of people are willing to go further, and shout louder, than everyone else. The answer to the far right cannot be to give in. We have never, and will never, let them dictate the terms of debate. When they argue for less democracy, we must call for more.”
However, Mr. Oluwole also condemned aggressive verbal attacks of far-left activists:
“…there’s a key difference between intense political discourse and gratuitous abuse, no matter where you are on the spectrum.” (6)
References:
1) Hate crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018 Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/18
2) “Hate crimes soared after EU referendum, Home Office figures confirm” The Guardian 13.10.2016
3) “Hate-crime reports rise by almost a third in a year as Home Office figures illustrate EU-referendum spike” The Independent 17.10.2017
4) “Hate crime surge linked to Brexit and 2017 terrorist attacks” The Guardian 16.10.2018
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/hate-crime-brexit-terrorist-attacks-england-wales
5) “MPs raise safety fears with police after Anna Soubry subjected to ‘Nazi’ chants” The Guardian 7.1.2019
6) “I was harassed outside parliament. These thugs must not stifle Brexit debate” The Guardian 9.1.2019
Katie Hopkins, the British poster-girl for far-right, has been promoting far-right event called “Awakening II” which will take place in Finland in April. The event will feature notorious American antisemite Kevin MacDonald and equally notorious American white supremacist Jared Taylor, who also took part to the first “Awakening” conference in Finland, last year (1). The event will also feature Ukrainian far-right activist Olena Semenyaka, Swedish-Icelandic alt-right figure Frodi Midjord, Austrian writer Martin Semlitsch (aka Martin Lichtmesz) and Jasmina Ollikainen, a member of HAPSU, a student association which is a member of the Finns Party Youth, the youth-wing of the Finns Party (2).
Read the full story on Hope not Hate website:
Other references:
1)”A secretive far-right event in Helsinki on Sunday: International speakers united by anti-semitism and misogyny” Varisverkosto.com 4.4.2018
2) Information about HAPSU
IDIS Observer 