Far Right

• Keir Starmer beschuldigt Robinson van het 'zaaien van haat en verdeeldheid' en de aartsbisschop van Canterbury dringt erop aan dat mensen 'kiezen voor hoop'. • Elf buitenlandse extreemrechtse activisten zijn uitgesloten van toegang tot het VK voorafgaand aan een rally van Tommy Robinson-aanhangers, terwijl Keir Starmer hem beschuldigde van het "zaaien van haat en verdeeldheid". • De aartsbisschop van Canterbury riep mensen op om te "kiezen voor hoop", en religieuze leiders spraken zich uit voorafgaand aan de rally op zaterdag, de tweede in zijn soort nadat vorig jaar meer dan 100.000 mensen aanwezig waren. Lees verder...

• De line-up bevat een predikant die het democratische platform 'demonisch' noemde, een christelijke auteur die zei dat hij zou sterven in de strijd om de verkiezingen van 2020 terug te draaien en een rabbijn die marteling heeft verdedigd. • Minister van Defensie Pete Hegseth zal dit weekend de hoofdrol spelen tijdens een geloofsrally op de National Mall in Washington DC, georganiseerd door een private stichting die samenwerkt met het Witte Huis, met sprekers die door experts worden bestempeld als christen-nationalistisch of extremistisch. • Rededicate 250, gepresenteerd als het geloofscomponent van het 250-jarig bestaan van Amerika, bevat sprekers waaronder een predikant uit Detroit die het democratische platform "demonisch" noemde en zijn eigen memecoin lanceerde na het bidden tijdens de tweede inauguratie van Trump; een rabbijn die het gebruik van marteling verdedigde en een essay schreef getiteld "The Virtue of Hate"; en een christelijke auteur en radiopresentator die in 2020 verklaarde dat hij zou sterven in de strijd om Joe Biden uit het Witte Huis te houden en later werd genoemd in een lasterzaak over claims over verkiezingsfraude in 2020.

• Juliette Binoche sluit zich aan bij 600 vooraanstaande figuren om te waarschuwen tegen een ‘fascistische overname van de collectieve verbeelding’ • Meer dan 600 figuren uit de cinema hebben verklaard dat de groeiende invloed van het uiterst rechtse op de Franse filmproductie het risico loopt uit te monden in een “fascistische overname van de collectieve verbeelding”. • In een open brief, gepubliceerd in de krant Libération ter gelegenheid van de opening van het filmfestival van Cannes, stelden zij dat de dominante positie van miljardair Vincent Bolloré in de Franse filmproductie en distributie de onafhankelijkheid van de industrie bedreigt. Lees verder...

Keir Starmer zegt dat 'agitators' worden tegengehouden om deel te nemen aan het Unite the Kingdom-evenement van Tommy Robinson

Ongeveer 30 personen – bijna allemaal mannen – hebben interesse getoond in het aanpakken van de uiterst rechtse National Rally tijdens de verkiezingen van volgend jaar.

Extra social media checks brought in amid growing threat to politicians from extremistsThe security company that provides bodyguards for MPs has tightened its vetting processes after it sent a bodyguard with far-right links to protect a politician who was under threat from extremists.Mitie, which has a £31m contract for the work, is updating its CPO (Close Protection Operative) vetting processes to include regular social media checks. There will also be random checks on the social media activity of those already taken on. Continue reading...

Hard line on immigration adopted by People’s party as right seeks to overthrow socialist government in 2027Europe live – latest updatesSpain’s opposition conservatives are rekindling their regional pacts with the far-right Vox party by adopting the latter’s hard line on immigration less than two years after disagreements over the issue led to the collapse of coalition administrations in five of the country’s self-governing regions.The renewal of the regional deals between the People’s party (PP) and Vox comes ahead of next year’s general election and as Spain’s socialist government seeks to extol the benefits of immigration by regularising the status of at least 500,000 undocumented migrants. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Home secretary understood to have withdrawn authorisation for speaker at Unite the Kingdom rally in MayA US-based anti-Islam influencer who had been authorised to attend a far-right rally in London has been blocked from entering the UK by the home secretary.Valentina Gomez, a self-styled Maga influencer, was given permission last week to enter via a UK electronic travel authorisation (ETA). Continue reading...

Leaders of Poland and Germany hail Péter Magyar’s majority as a turning of the tide – but analysts say there were other reasons for defeat of prime ministerFor Poland’s Donald Tusk, the crushing defeat of Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán, after 16 years in office was evidence that the world was “not condemned to authoritarian and corrupt governments”.Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, also believes the two-thirds majority secured by Orbán’s centre-right challenger, Péter Magyar, in Sunday’s elections was “a clear signal against rightwing populism” that showed “the pendulum is swinging back”. Continue reading...

Filing seeks to overturn seditious conspiracy charges of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who laid siege to US Capitol in 2021The US Department of Justice has requested that a federal appeals judge overturn convictions for members of far-right groups Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who were previously found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the violent siege of the US capitol in 2021.Jeanine Pirro, the Donald Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, signed separate motions on Tuesday to vacate convictions for a slew of individuals, including the Proud Boys’ leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs as well as Stewart Rhodes, a former attorney who founded the Oath Keepers’ militia. Continue reading...

• President Donald Trump and his administration actively promoted Hungary's far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his reelection campaign through social media and an election-eve trip to Budapest. • Trump demonstrated his willingness to publicly intervene in foreign elections, marking a significant exercise of political influence abroad. • The move reflects Trump's pattern of backing allied leaders globally and raises questions about U.S. diplomatic norms regarding foreign electoral involvement.

Celebrities including Annie Lennox and Miriam Margolyes sign letter to force after pro-Palestine march route rejectedAnnie Lennox and Miriam Margolyes are among artists who have accused the Metropolitan police of giving preferential treatment to a far-right demonstration led by Tommy Robinson over a pro-Palestine protest in London on the same day.The pro-Palestine movement has had its preferred route through central London for its annual commemoration of Nakba – the mass expulsion of Palestinians – rejected by the Met, while the “Unite the Kingdom” demonstration will take place on the same date in Kingsway, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted on X: “London is ours on May 16th.” Continue reading...

New administration reverses expropriation of property founded by ex-Nazi Paul Schäfer, leaving victims in limboWith its Germanic crosses and colourful toy-town facades, the village square of the tiny Chilean settlement of Villa Baviera gives little indication of the horrors of its past.Until 1991, this cattle town of a few hundred people was a compound known as Colonia Dignidad. Its leader, Paul Schäfer, a former Nazi and weapons smuggler, bought a swathe of land in the valley in 1961, eventually holding as many as 300 people in a fenced enclave with minimal contact with the outside world. He sexually abused and even tortured the children in the camp. Continue reading...

Party, which has neo-Nazi roots, will hold ‘important ministerial posts within immigration’ if four-party coalition wins in SeptemberThe Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said that he will allow the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) into government for the first time – and give its members key ministerial posts – if his coalition wins the next general election.Despite becoming Sweden’s second biggest political party after the Social Democrats in the last election, SD currently only play a supporting role in the minority-run coalition. Continue reading...

More than 100 charities, campaign groups and trade unions marched in a show of unity against far right politicsTogether Alliance march – live updatesTens of thousands of people have gathered in London to march against the far right in the biggest multicultural demonstration in UK history.Organisers claimed half a million people have travelled to the capital for the Together Alliance march. Police estimated the turnout closer to 50,000, although they admitted it was difficult to judge due to how spread out the crowd was. Continue reading...

Together Alliance march begins in central London at midday; a separate event organised by the Palestine Coalition is also taking placeThe Metropolitan police have said there will be a “significant policing presence” in Westminster on Saturday with a number of large protests expected.In addition to the marches organised by the Together Alliance and the Palestine Coalition, a number of protests against the Iranian regime – both static assemblies and marches – are due to take place in the Westminster area on both Saturday and Sunday. Continue reading...

Musician urges public to send clear message at what is expected to be UK’s biggest ever multicultural rallyBilly Bragg has encouraged people to send a clear message to those seeking to divide the country by turning out to support what is expected to be the biggest multicultural march in UK history on Saturday.Speaking to the Guardian before the Together Alliance’s march against the far right in central London, the musician and political activist said participants hoped to “send out a message to our fellow citizens that we are willing to take a stand against [the politics of hate] being imported into the UK”. Continue reading...

France’s National Rally missed key targets in local elections ahead of next year’s seismic presidential vote – and the mainstream is doing OK elsewhere, too• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe Rassemblement National is not invincible. A year out from a make-or-break presidential vote, that might be the main lesson (though there are others, which may prove more significant) from last weekend’s local elections in France. What’s more, news elsewhere – Giorgia Meloni’s referendum defeat in Italy, Janez Janša beaten in Slovenia, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in trouble, the left bloc largest in Denmark – might suggest the rest of Europe’s far right are not having it all their own way, either.But let’s focus first on France – if only because while local elections are rarely a wholly accurate guide to future national outcomes, these ones seem to provide some pointers – and the stakes in the country’s next major election are vertiginously high. Continue reading...

Polling for anti-immigration DPP is relatively low, but many feel its ideas have been co-opted by Mette Frederiksen’s Social DemocratsMayasa Mandia, a recent graduate living in the small Danish town of Kokkedal, will be voting for the left in Tuesday’s general election – but it won’t be for Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats.The 23-year-old, a practising Muslim, says that under Frederiksen’s government far-right commentary has become normalised in the Danish mainstream. She has seen this, she says, at her own university, where there were discussions about banning prayers. Continue reading...

France’s Marine Le Pen and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders among speakers praising prime minister at Budapest eventMarine Le Pen has called Viktor Orbán “an exceptional leader” and Geert Wilders hailed “a lion on a continent led by sheep” as Europe’s far-right figureheads rallied round Hungary’s prime minister before an election that polls suggest he may lose.“Hungary has become a symbol in Europe of a proud and sovereign people’s resistance against oppression,” Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of France’s National Rally (RN), told a gathering of EU-sceptical leaders in Budapest on Monday. Continue reading...

US president’s backing comes as Hungary’s PM faces toughest election campaign of 16 years in officeDonald Trump has endorsed Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who faces his toughest electoral challenge next month since taking power 16 years ago, as Europe’s far-right leaders gather for a “grand assembly” in Budapest.In a video message, the US president told the national-conservative Cpac Hungary conference in the capital on Saturday that Orbàn, who has been trailing in the polls behind a centre-right rival for more than a year, was a “fantastic guy”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Rebecca Harris promotes latest Crewkerne Gazette skit, created by Joshua Bonehill-Paine who says he is a member of Tory partyThe Conservative party’s chief whip has been condemned for promoting AI-generated footage created by a notorious far-right figure jailed for hate crimes against Jewish people.Rebecca Harris reposted the latest skit by the Crewkerne Gazette, which depicts Kemi Badenoch and her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, as characters in the gangster film Scarface. Continue reading...

National Rally leader urges voters to back party’s ‘common sense’ campaign in final round as it eyes taking another cityJordan Bardella, the head of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) and a potential candidate in next year’s presidential race, has called on voters to back what he called his party’s “common sense and order” campaign in the final round of municipal elections next week.As the first-round municipal election results trickled in on Sunday night, the anti-immigration RN held on to the biggest city it runs: Perpignan. Louis Aliot was re-elected in the first round as mayor of the city, which has a population of 121,000 and is close to the Spanish border. Continue reading...