• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Joe Biden
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

The British Far Right Has a New Voice of Unity

Patriotic Alternative is more extreme in ideology and openly promotes racism, with white nationalism replacing anti-Islam rhetoric.
By Vasiliki Tsagkroni • Jan 20, 2021
Vasiliki Tsagkroni, Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, UK far right parties, UK far right groups, Patriotic Alternative UK, white supremacy groups UK, Patriotic Alternative ideology, identitarian movements UK, anti-Semitism in Britain, hate speech UK

© Gil C / Shutterstock

In 45 years, by 2066, native white British people are set to become a minority in the UK. This is the claim, accompanied by census data dating back to 1801, made by the Patriotic Alternative, an organization launched in September 2019 that celebrates anti-Semitism and white nationalism in Britain.

The Patriotic Alternative is run by Mark Collett, a former director of publicity and former chairman for the youth wing of the British National Party, and his deputy, Laura Towler, editor of Defend Evropa, a network of identitarian far-right activists claiming to be guarding Europe’s identity by stopping immigration. Collett’s and Towler’s public profiles and activity reveal ideas of white supremacy, racism, anti-Semitism as well as reverence for fascism, all of which are reflected in the beliefs of the Patriotic Alternative.


Europe’s Far Right Fails to Capitalize on COVID-19

READ MORE


Collett, for instance, has referred to homosexuals as “AIDS monkeys,” declared his admiration for Adolf Hitler and called asylum seekers “cockroaches.” In her articles, Towler often defends Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s tougher migration policies, writes a series on the so-called “white genocide,” and talks in favor of declaring white people as indigenous.

The organization presents itself as a community of patriots and an activist group, aimed at raising awareness on issues such as the demographic decline of “native Britons,” the environmental impact of mass migration and what it sees as indoctrination in British schools. The Patriotic Alternative’s plan includes the protection of “indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom” — the English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh —  and preventing any form of policy that discriminates against them and their “ancestral claim” to the land, replacing white nationalism with the indigenous argument.

logo

Make Sense of the World

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Make Sense of the World
Unique insights from 2000+ contributors in 80+ countries

Additionally, it calls for a halt on all immigration to Britain, unless in special circumstances or for people of a shared ethnic and cultural background, and argues in favor of deportation for anyone who breaks immigration rules. The Patriotic Alternative defends freedom of expression and supports the idea that hate speech laws are inverted. The organization also targets the LGBTQI+ community as a threat to young people and stands in favor of a traditional nuclear family, highlighting the need to ban anti-white propaganda in the form of references to white privilege and systemic racism.

Looking at the group’s ideas and plan of action, it appears that this “alternative” is more extreme in ideology and openly promotes racism, with white nationalism replacing anti-Islam rhetoric. In doing so, the organization seems to have attracted the attention from various actors in the far-right field. In an effort to mobilize and unite these actors, the Patriotic Alternative has engaged numerous marketing techniques, maintaining a strong online presence with daily blogs, weekly vlogs and social media campaigns like “White Lives Matter,” but also with traditional conferences and events across the country.

Nevertheless, with the exception of the UK Independence Party, the far-right has been rather fractured and hasn’t been successful beyond some local support across Britain, and the Patriotic Alternative may well fall into this trend. However, in a 2020 report, Hope not Hate tried to raise awareness of the threat the group’s extreme views pose to the public given the engagement it managed to mobilize on the far-right scene, especially when it comes to online communities.

It is likely that despite drawing the attention of the wider far-right spectrum and its effort to balance between the different voices of the UK’s far-right scene, the Patriotic Alternative will follow its ancestors to the sidelines of the country’s public attention. But it’s presence there — and the threat its ideas hold — should not go unnoticed.

*[Fair Observer is a media partner of the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Share Story
CategoriesEurope, European politics news, Politics, Quick read, United Kingdom News, World News Tagsanti-Semitism in Britain, Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, hate speech UK, identitarian movements UK, Patriotic Alternative ideology, Patriotic Alternative UK, UK far right groups, UK far right parties, Vasiliki Tsagkroni, white supremacy groups UK
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious Welcome to The Economist’s Technological Idealism
Next PostNext Mike Pompeo’s Dismal Legacy
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept