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Britain First: A Profile

Jessica Allen
Jan 23, 2017
5 min read

If you've got a Facebook account, you've probably heard of Britain First. You might have seen some of their posts shared onto your news feed. But what do they believe, what have they achieved?

Vital stats Leader: Jayda Fransen Membership: 6,000 Facebook likes: 1,575,000 Founded: Late 2011 by members of the British National Party Fun fact: Britain First is the largest political party on Facebook

What they want

A comprehensive ban on Islam in the UK Deporting all illegal immigrants and foreign criminals A public NHS (not privatised) Re-introduction of grammar schools and Christian assemblies in schools

To protect "British and Christian morality" and be "committed to preserving our ancestral ethnic and cultural heritage"

"Genuine British citizens will be put first in housing, jobs, education, welfare and health"

What they've achieved so far Former leader Paul Golding finished 8th in the London mayoral election in 2016 - he got 1.2% of votes and turned his back on winner Sadiq Khan.

Controversies (there are a few, so they have their own headings) Their campaign slogan "Remember Lee Rigby"

Lee Rigby was a Fusilier soldier who was murdered in 2013 near his barracks in Woolwich, London by two men who claimed to retaliate against British military presence in Islamic countries. His killers got at least 45 years in prison. Britain First registered the phrase "Remember Lee Rigby" for use in the 2014 European elections - then leader Paul Golding said: "We apologise to the mother of Lee Rigby, but it was a major act of terrorism, it was a big public event." As well as frequenting his name and photo in social media campaigns, they used his name and image again in an election broadcast in 2016, calling for an end to mass immigration. Paul Golding also falsely claimed there was no public memorial to Rigby in Woolwich.

Rigby's mother has asked Britain First repeatedly not to use his name or photo for their political gain. She said her son did not share Britain First's views and "they have absolutely no support from his family."

Christian Patrols In 2014, Britain First held its first "Christian Patrol" in Tower Hamlets, East London, which has a high Muslim population. Around 12 activists recorded themselves holding a banner which said "We Are The British Resistance" and emptying cans of beer outside a mosque as a sign of disrespect.

The patrol was condemned by Muslim and Christian leaders in the local area.

They have continued to protest displaying the Christian Cross - even outside mosques. They have also continued to share Biblical verses and often share their anti-abortion views.

Mosque invasions

In 2014, members invaded ten Bradford mosques as well as mosques in Glasgow, Luton and East London. They handed out Army Bibles and attempted to convert to Christianity - telling one member to "reject the false prophet Muhammad and read the Bible". They also visited a Labour office to say "they had been warned".

Later that year, they entered a mosque in South London, demanding that segregated entrances be removed and said: "When you respect women we'll respect your mosques". It was these mosque invasions that eventually got Paul Golding sent to prison - which you'll find out about below.

Rotherham sex abuse

In 2014 a report revealed that over 1,400 children had been sexually abused in Rotherham, mainly by Pakistani men. Britain First protested inside the headquarters of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council with a banner saying "Justice for victims of Muslim grooming".

This scandal - which saw police and social services amongst others failed to effectively act against the abuse or even acknowledge it was taking place - has remained in the minds of supporters, who label all Muslims to be rapists and paedophiles.

Murder of Jo Cox Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox was murdered in her constituency on 16th June 2016 - just a week before the EU referendum. Eyewitnesses claimed both at the time and the trial that her killer, Nazi-obsessed Thomas Mair, shouted "Britain First" during the attack. At the time, Britain First denied any involvement or encouragement in the attack and suggested it may have been a slogan rather than a direct reference to the party.

In recent days, upon his release from prison, former leader Paul Golding threatened "traitor" MPs and journalists, saying: "You will all meet your miserable ends at the hands of the Britain First movement."

Paul Golding's imprisonment

Golding was given an eight-week jail sentence after he broke an injunction put in place by Bedfordshire Police, stopping him entering, or encouraging others to enter, any mosque in England and Wales for three years. He admitted his involvement in another mosque invasion, an incident said to have caused "serious harassment, alarm or distress" to worshippers at the mosque.

Current leader, Jayda Fransen, has also been found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment after she "hurled abuse at a Muslim woman wearing a hijab" and wearing a political uniform during a Christian Patrol.

Sharing (and maybe creating) fake news

Britain First have used their own website to share over-exaggerated and false news, using headlines like:

Tourists Flee 'Nightmare' Paris Amidst Rising Theft, Assaults, Terror!
SICKENING: Migrants brutally gang-rape 14 Year old German girl, dump her in the snow, celebrate in court!
DISGRACE! Pakistan executes a Christian woman for "insulting Islam"!
ANIMALS: Refugees sexually molesting children in Germany!

They have also been criticised for sharing completely incorrect news, and deleting any comments (and blocking Facebook users) which point out the falsehood of their claims.

Blatant extremism

From all of the above points, it is clear that this far-right group are nothing short of extremists. Extremism is defined as "the holding of extreme political or religious views" - something which is certainly true of Britain First, especially with their fear-mongering and intimidation of cultures other than typical 'White British' in the UK.

It's probably important to mention that Britain First insists that it is not racist - though this seems very similar to the common racist prefix "I'm not racist, but..." and their key value is against Islam in the UK. In fact, Britain First even said they'd take "militant direct action" against elected Muslim officials.

So... How do people retaliate?

With humour

Many people challenge the Britain First ideas and "fan base" with satire and memes.

A great example of this is Britain Furst, who used to have a Facebook page but it was shut down. It was filled with content mocking Britain First supporters, like this:

Britain First have also been the subject of satirical sketches, such as the following sketch from Revolting:

With protests

As is our right in the UK, anyone has the right to protest or counter-protest. There have been a number of counter-protests at Britain First demonstrations, by organisations such as Hope Not Hate and other anti-fascism groups.

Britain First were even escorted from Leicester city centre by police officers in the run up to the EU referendum - one of the most multicultural and harmonious cities in the country. There were shouts of "Racists, you're not welcome here" - but Britain First recorded videos and took photos of counter-protesters and published them on their Facebook page for their supporters to insult, after their own statement: "The day's only drawback was the appearance of a 20 strong group of unwashed, scruffy looking leftist bigots, fresh from a protest about badgers and also members of the anti-British Socialist Workers' Party". Elsewhere they threatened to "expose these unwashed cretins".

Similarly (though not completely linked) there have been protests around the world to demonstrate against Donald Trump becoming President - which we will look at soon. These protests were mainly aimed at Trump's attitude to women, but also his perceived hatred of other cultures and his threat to eradicate radical Islam in his Presidency. Britain First subsequently supported Trump's inauguration and debut speech as President.