So, Jim Dowson has quit Britain First citing his displeasure with the group’s mosque invasions. That Dowson, one of the most divisive and influential figures to emerge on the British far-right in the past twenty years, has taken umbrage with the group would appear to be a wider reflection on the state of the far right in this country-not just Britain First.
Only a week ago Dowson’s former best friend and now life-long nemesis Nick Griffin was ousted from his role as leader of the shrinking British National Party (BNP) and the English Defence League (EDL), the other main group on the far-right, also appears leaderless and without purpose.
Like Griffin and EDL founder Stephen Lennon, it appears Dowson has failed in his mission to mould a movement that could match his own political vision and aspirations. Like Lennon, Dowson has cited that some kind of spiritual non-nazi campaign is impossible in either this climate, or perhaps this country. Like Lennon and Griffin, Dowson was stuck trying to recruit within the same pool of socially, politically and economically challenged individuals and like Griffin and Lennon, spent an enormous amount of his energies trying to continue bleeding that pool of finance and energy to continue pursuing his specific dream.
Dowson was unique; he spread his own wealth and talent across both the neo-nazi BNP and the counter-Jihad EDL in a vain search for his own Crusaders. He funded them, trained them, clothed them and breathed apparent new life into them. He saw disciplined Christians emerging in natty uniforms carrying bibles and his evangelical message of doomsday and civil war-everyone else saw the same old thugs with a new slant on their desire for a race war. In an interview with the Daily Mirror Dowson confirms that like the EDL and like the BNP, Britain First are no different despite the camouflage. They are racist thugs corrupting ancient biblical texts to justify their own personal hatreds and agendas.
To many, Dowson’s own agenda is little better than those he has tried to share it with anyway. Militantly homophobic, anti-immigrant and still believing in the inevitability of some kind of holy war, as we wrote in our report into Dowson’s activities with Britain First, he remains a religious extremist.
Dowson has apparently been convinced of the error of Britain First’s ways and the obvious stupidity of his front man, Paul Golding, by having conversations with English based evangelical Christians with whom he is supposed to share an adherence to biblical teachings and prophecies.
There is no doubt that as a Calvinist Christian Dowson is drawn to believe that there is a circle of religious and holy events that points to a seemingly inevitable conflict initiated by God. He has simply, for as long as we know, assumed that it will happen between Christians and Muslims.
However, dumping Britain First with its shady money-making schemes, outright lies and bully-boy tactics, is a surprise. Britain First has been for almost a year now, the only game in town on the far-right. Something obviously either very sick or very dangerous is afoot within the organisation. Pressure has been apparent not just from Christians in England and Scotland horrified by their antics, but also in Northern Ireland from where so much of Britain First’s imagery is borrowed.
With Dowson gone, who knows where Paul Golding will lead of what remains. He has been condemned by the very man who breathed life into his headline grabbing antics, and then accused by the same man of being no worse than the bogey man Anjem Choudry himself. This will be strong stuff for Golding to swallow, having hidden behind the bovver boot and bible whilst building Dowson’s army.
Golding issued a ranting video last night, having blamed HOPE not hate earlier on the group’s website for Dowson’s departure. Looking shaken, Golding claimed they had cleared all of the radical Islamists off the streets of the country, but they were going back to target them again because they had not gone away… Golding claims the group will now stop Mosque invasions.
If Jim Dowson wants to desert the sort of jackbooted fascism that he has help fund and promote in this country for the past seven years while searching for the meaning of his life, we welcome this. We now call upon the authorities in this country to take notice of Dowson’s own criticism of the group he founded, and deal with once and for all, the bloodlust of the race haters who invade mosques, masquerade as military charities and run vigilante patrols in the name of God.
They can start tomorrow by calling in the HMRC to investigate the activities of the group.
Our report into Britain First ‘Army of the right’ can be purchased here
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