Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), is investigating its former boss, Hans-Georg Maassen, over alleged links to the far-right movement Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich). Maassen, a vocal critic of mass migration and green climate policies, calls the move politically motivated.
Children are being taught archery, swordplay and boxing by former members of the far right who believe they are “at war” with the state.
The leaders of Hope Sussex, a suspected illegal school that is under investigation by Ofsted, encourage parents to remove their children from mainstream state education and send them to their site for lessons, while telling local authorities that the children are being home-educated.
France is on a knife edge.
Holding its breath as unrest spreads across the country, bursting out of the banlieues – the often socially-neglected suburbs – after the fatal shooting this week of a 17-year-old from a French-Algerian family by police near Paris.
These types of riots are not unheard of in France. But the intensity of feeling taking hold of the country, whether amongst those sympathising with the police or with the banlieues and the victim’s family – hasn’t been witnessed in France since summer 2005.
And while President Macron visibly struggles to get the situation under control, his political nemesis on the far-right – Marine Le Pen – with her tough-on-security, anti-immigration message – may well end up benefitting in the polls.
God forbid the riffraff elect a government they want.
The face of the new European right is, increasingly, feminine
All over Europe the right is surging ahead. Everywhere you look, the left is losing — in Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Hungary and now, following an election victory for the New Democracy party on Sunday, Greece.
In France you can now swipe far right.
A new dating site launched this month is aimed at nationalists, “patriots” and those who yearn for a return to traditional gender roles. It specifically welcomes French people whose views veer to the extreme right, who, polling suggests, may need help finding a mate.
According to a recent survey by the polling organisation Ifop, 58 per cent of French people would refuse to sleep with a far-right sympathiser and 65 per cent would rule out becoming their partner.
We all know the proverbial “give them enough rope” aphorism but in this age of apathy, I wondered if the precept was obsolete. In a world where political power rightfully belongs to the people but requires vigilance, I didn’t have high expectations of a stuporous public deluded by television, streaming services, and social media — of course, the “bread and circuses” maxim also comes to mind.
France, Sweden, Italy, Finland and now Spain. The demise of the left in western Europe continues apace and yet their only solution is to seethe about fascists in a make believe world of their own.
Nine months after Giorgia Meloni was elected Prime Minister – remember the hysterical warnings about her being Mussolini in heels – the only horror the Italian left has experienced is electoral wipeout. At last weekend’s local elections, Meloni’s conservative Brothers of Italy party romped to victory in many towns that were once staunchly Socialist. As a jubilant Meloni crowed: ‘Strongholds [of the left] no longer exist.’
When Donald Trump was still President and Theresa May still Prime Minister they were photographed holding hands. More than once, in fact.
May’s critics seized upon the images as a way of linking Brexit to Trump. What more proof could there be that these abominations went hand-in-hand?
Holding hands! OMG! Canadian media covering for Junior’s latest Bozo Eruption have referred to Meloni as “Far Right.”
Germany recorded 58,916 cases of politically motivated crime in 2022, an increase of some 7% compared with the previous year, according to figures released on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said right-wing extremism remained the greatest threat to German democracy, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic also cited as important factors for the rise in politically motivated crime.
A significant increase was also recorded in crimes and acts of violence by the far-right Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich) movement.
Twitter has given a gold tick to Britain First, the far right political organisation, after a shake-up of its verification system under new owner Elon Musk.
The party’s leader, Paul Golding, has also received a blue tick for his account, which means that his posts will be boosted in conversations and will be ranked higher in user searches. Golding was jailed in 2018 for religiously aggravated harassment.
Twitter’s gold tick designates a verified organisation that is a business or non-profit entity, according to the platform’s website. Twitter is charging UK entities £1,140 a month for official gold tick status, while personal accounts are being charged £9.60 for a blue tick.
HBO host Bill Maher called out the media for its “apoplectic” response to the election of what papers called Italy’s “far-right” Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the comparisons the liberal press made to fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Outspoken actor, comedian, and wildly successful podcaster Russell Brand joined Maher on “Club Random” and noted how the term “far-right” has been thrown around in recent years.
This is what Pierre Poilievre has to say about @AndersonAfDMdEP.
What a truly disgusting statement and baseless attack on a courageous woman who did more to defend freedom in Canada during covid than he did. https://t.co/oaapwEwdIJ
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) February 24, 2023
Reading George Orwell’s 1984 or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World among dozens of classic books and television shows is a sign that you could be a far-right extremist, a leaked document from a UK anti-terrorism programme reportedly claims.
A 2019 document said to have leaked from the UK’s much-criticised Prevent anti-terrorism programme has claimed that someone reading George Orwell’s 1984 or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World should be viewed as potential warning signs of extremism, with the internal paper listing a wide range of other seminal pieces of media as being red flags indicating someone may hold radical views.
The men are assembled along the left, the women line up along the right, and the very young children follow the proceedings from an anteroom, soundproofed behind a glass screen. The dress code is sombre — mostly black, occasionally grey. The women are obliged to cover their hair, though, judging by the sprinkling of Louis Vuitton and Hermes headscarves, there is no injunction against luxury. Silent and perfectly still, the congregation surrenders to the language of the ancient church: “Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto”.
One day after a jury ordered him to pay nearly US$1-billion for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones appeared on Louder With Crowder, an online broadcast popular with the far right.
The reason “we’ve had him on is because I hate seeing people being bullied,” host Steven Crowder said. He then gently extracted an exculpatory account from the man who once called the elementary-school shooting, which left 26 dead, “as phoney as a $3 bill.”
