The Emperor’s New Clothes

Troy Southgate

When new publications drop through the office letterbox, a member of staff scours the pages to see if there is anything of interest. Unfortunately I drew the short straw and was lumbered with the latest issue of New Imperium. The turgid publication published by the equally pompous organisation The New Right.

For some people the New Right are seen as a new threat, possibly with aspirations to fill the vacuum left over from the crumbling BNP. The reality however is somewhat different. Fifty political train spotters in a back street London pub does not make a dynamic political movement that is going to take this country by storm.

Chief train spotter is Troy Southgate, according to his Wikipedia entry Southgate is an author, musician and leading National-Anarchist activist. He is also a Crystal Palace supporter much to the annoyance of fellow Eagle and colleague of mine Matthew Collins.

Southgate started his political career with the National Front, moving to the International Third Position, English Nationalist Movement and the National Revolutionary Faction, before establishing The New Right in 2005 with one time BNP “Cultural Officer” Jonathan Bowden.

Described as “Metapolitical, beyond movements and organisations and putting intellect before dogma”, Southgate and his merry men want people to believe that a room full of washed up and past it racists will change the world. However, reading New Imperium quickly confirms that The New Right is nothing more than a “Cult of Personality” worshipping at the church of Troy Southgate.

Not only is Southgate editor and designer of New Imperium he is also the organising secretary of The New Right. Turning to the back of the magazine you are met with two pages of books for sale via The New Right. Every book advertised has Southgate listed as either author or editor and at an average price of £20 per book Southgate corners the market in boring books about dead fascists and is making a pretty penny from it as well.

The rest of the magazine is pretty much what I expected, the snob end of the fascist spectrum attempting to appear more intelligent than your regular BNP lout.

Southgate in his editorial talks about “excitement regarding The New Right’s continuing progress” and “The secret behind their success.”

Progress? Success?

I wonder what the collective term for a group of pub bores would be. May I suggest The New Right?