Britain First is now a registered political party after applying nine times

[reporter2]

Britain First is now a registered political party after applying nine times

Gergana Krasteva

27 Sep 2021


Leader Paul Golding said he was ‘ecstatic’ about finally ‘defeating’ the Electoral Commission

The far-right group Britain First has been registered as a political party by the Electoral Commission.

Leader Paul Golding, who was convicted under the Terrorism Act in May last year, said he was ‘ecstatic’ about finally ‘defeating’ the body.

The party lost its status in 2017 after it failed to renew its registration on time.

Since then, Britain First has had its application turned down eight times.

Mr Golding thanked supporters for donating thousands of pounds, saying: ‘We have fought long and hard against unbelievable corruption and leftist bias to get to this point.

‘Britain First can now build an elections-winning machine capable of taking on the treacherous Old-Gang parties.

‘This day will go down in British history as a landmark day for freedom and democracy.

‘We have struck a mighty blow against the establishment plan to bar patriotic political parties from contesting elections.’

Britain First campaigns primarily against immigration and what it sees as ‘Islamisation’ of the UK.

It was founded in 2011 by Jim Dowson, an anti-abortion and far-right campaigner.


Golding thanked supporters of Britain First


The group lost its status as a political party in 2017

The decision comes two years after the group was fined £44,000 by The Electoral Commission for a number of offences including undeclared donations and a failure to provide proper accounts.

In a statement to Metro.co.uk, an Electoral Commission spokesperson said: ‘We assessed this application against the criteria set out in law, including consideration of public comments submitted to us.

‘The party’s application met the legal criteria and the party has therefore been registered.’

Their first application was submitted in January 2019 under the name The Best For Luton Party.

The party has been previously rejected for being confusingly similar to another already registered party and for being likely to mislead people as to the effect of their vote.

The body does not consider a group’s political views when deciding whether or not to register a party.

[reporter2]

As a Muslim, Britain First becoming a political party frightens me to my core'

As a visibly Muslim woman who wears a hijab, I worry that Britain First's supporters will feel legitimised to rabble-raise against people like me, writes Anjum Peerbacos

By Anjum Peerbacos

29 Sep 2021

Yesterday the Electoral Commission announced that Britain First was allowed to, again, be an official political party.

Its application was approved by the commission four years after it was deregistered for failing to renew its registration on time.

I announced the news in horror to my husband in total shock by this. How have we arrived here? In the wake of Brexit and then the aftermath of George Floyd, how is it possible that we are in a place where the Far Right have become even more emboldened?

As a visibly Muslim woman wearing the hijab, I find the rhetoric and vitriol which Britain First use to gather and garner support incredibly offensive and frightening. Actually, I find that their stance overtly incites hatred against Muslims and Islam in the UK.

I am absolutely gobsmacked that a party with such views and ideologies has been allowed to stand as an official political party, potentially allowing for members of parliament to espouse these views in the Commons. As far as I am concerned, they are in breach of laws criminalising incitement of hatred based on race or religion in the UK.

My reaction differs greatly from my husband's; he suggested that I shouldn't be surprised in this post-Brexit world. We are fully aware that hate crimes against people who are considered immigrants or different due to race or religion spiked after the 2016 referendum. Brexit benefitted from the othering of people, and Britain First does the same.

I have been the victim of hate crimes previously and feel as though in recent times, since Brexit, hate crimes and abuse have amplified.

My biggest concern is that by allowing Britain First to have a such a platform from which to voice these discriminatory and hateful ideologies against Muslims in particular, I fear that once again my family and I will be on the receiving end of this action.


Anjum says Britain First's status as a political party legitimises its othering of minorities

Britain First previously stated the following regarding Muslims and Islam existing in Europe: “There is a cancer moving through Europe and that is Islam. Our children are being bombed, our children are being groomed and our government does nothing … Evil will not prevail.”

Their ideologies, their hate speech, their rhetoric against Islam and Muslims have now been legitimised and made official and as a visibly Muslim woman, this frightens me to my very core.