Far right roundup

The strange case of disgraced former cocaine MP’s Chief of Staff

There’s been much ado and celebration at Biffer Central with news that former Belfast City Councillor Joelene Bunting has been caught trying to dip her fingers into their proverbial till.

This must be like Watergate in the hallowed echelons of Britain’s far right – where no pocket goes unpicked and no purse is safe left open in a pub.

For Britain First’s criminal leader Paul Golding this has been a massive opportunity to drop numerous vowels and tell the world all about it.

Of course, according to Golding and his shower, this whole affair was part of some HOPE not hate operation against him (it wasn’t) and Bunting was in league with HOPE not hate agents (she wasn’t).

Golding’s been trying to use the findings of the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman against Bunting to somehow also exonerate himself from the very public allegations he beat and battered his former lover and political deputy, Jayda Fransen.

You can see for yourself that it does not, by watching the allegations (which have nothing to do with Bunting), here.

These days, whenever Golding ventures to Northern Ireland to portray himself as some kind of law abiding, patriotic plutocrat, he makes sure he has notorious football hooligan Andy ‘Nightmare’ Frain beside him. We’ll probably explain the reasons for that sooner – or later..

We just cannot wait until this friendship goes the same way as all of Golding’s others..

Some not – so funny business in Sheffield MP case

Earlier this week, former Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O’Mara was found guilty of multiple counts of fraud against the tax payer as he struggled to fund his cocaine habit.

Following a trial at Leeds Crown Court, jurors found O’Mara aged 41, guilty of six counts of fraud, relating to invoices submitted to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) to fund what prosecutors describe as an ‘extensive cocaine habit’.

That’s unfortunate. But what caught both my and the eye of someone even more eagle – eyed, was the name of his co-accused, O’Mara’s ‘Chief of Staff’ Gareth Arnold. Mr Arnold , aged 30, was also found guilty of three counts of fraud relating to the expense claims.

Yesterday, Arnold received a 15-month suspended sentence for his part in this most horrible affair.

Arnold is known to us because he used to run a mildly amusing social media page titled ‘Britain Furst’ which poked fun at Britain First. However, Arnold – who used the name ‘Arnoult’ was most unfriendly to those he deemed ‘lefties’ (these days it’s called being ‘Snowflakes) and it rather quickly became apparent to us that rather than lampooning Britain First, Mr Arnold was, in our opinion, falling in love with them!

In (or around) 2012, Britain First began harassing journalists and members of the public who were opposed to them. At the same time, some experienced Antifascists became wary of the ‘Britain Furst’ social media and tried to warn others that it was probably not the safest medium for venting against the Bin-Bag militia that was Britain First. Cue the usual accusations of jealousy etc, etc, but then came silence.

During a particularly rowdy Britain First demonstration in 2014 Britain First members attacked journalists and photographers. The HOPE not hate photographer was even arrested for defending themselves on the day. Guess who on the day would turn up on the arm of Britain First’s founder Jim Dowson? Why, none other than Gareth Arnold of Dronfield, aka ‘Mr Britain Furst’.

Arnold even posted pictures of himself with Dowson on his personal social media page, but it didn’t end there. He would later write glowingly of taking Cornflakes and morning prayers at the Dowson home outside Belfast. I’m just waiting for confirmation from my man Lazlo, but it appears Mr Arnold also found his way to Hungary, where Dowson and Nick Griffin were running a substantial Nazi operation.

How Arnold ended up working with or for a (former) Labour MP is beyond my comprehension – even if he did change his name slightly for his posts. We certainly never read any exclusive research or articles about his time with Dowson. On the contrary..