Faith is in her eighties. And very sprightly for her age. During lockdown, she admits to becoming very desperate and depressed.
A born again Christian, she looked around for something or somebody that would inspire her and shared her beliefs. She felt compelled to join Britain First.
She felt joining, or supporting the crusading party was her gift to future generations of British people. Most importantly, the Sussex based Great-Grandmother wanted to stop young women “in the north” from being dragged into prostitution.
Faith felt Britain First spoke to her fears. In return for £25 (which Britain First took for a membership fee) and two further small donations, Faith received an envelope full of tat that was no use to her. She had not realised the party was so extreme.
She was further unimpressed when after stressing her state pension was no longer covering her minimal everyday living expenses, she discovered further “donations” had been taken from her bank account without either her knowledge or consent.
Thinking there was an ongoing mix up, Faith rang and emailed the party a number of times without response.
In one desperate email to Britain First she wrote:
“My pension is below the poverty limit. Yet you have been taking sums out of my account as set [out] below.
I was wondering just why I was so [financially] desperate, and then with some help searching the source of the loss, I found this.”
Faith
Faith listed for Britain First the consecutive and random amounts the party had taken from her bank account without her consent and knowledge. In total, Britain First deducted some £305 over a six-month period until February 2022 when Faith contacted her bank to stop the payments.
Faith isn’t the only person to make one-off donations to Britain First and later find the party has deducted further monies. HOPE not hate is aware of many others – many of whom are low income pensioners that have fallen victim to Britain First’s dubious and fraudulent practices.
Most of Britain First’s victims are too scared or intimidated to be identified publicly. Many believe, as does HOPE not hate, that Britain First used computer software available on their platforms to sign unsuspecting donors up to a direct debit or standing order.
And once these unsuspecting debtors realised regular amounts of money was leaving their accounts, the party simply ignored their pleas for help until such a time they contacted their own bank themselves to stop payments.
For the person donating to Britain First, it’s a simple mistake to make. For Britain First deliberately make their donation buttons confusing. Banks think withdrawals are being made as a standing order, whilst the donor thinks they have just made a one-off donation.
One former staffer at Britain First has told us how, when the party bothered to answer their phone, literally dozens of people would be complaining, some desperately, that Britain First had taken money from their account without (what they thought) was their consent. “Little old ladies, some of them, begging us to stop taking the payments. Britain First didn’t care and nor did we tell them it was up to the person to contact their bank themselves.
“There were literally hundreds of people having as little as £5 per month taken from their accounts.”
For more information on Britain First, check out our Britain First report.
As we expose more activists involved in the anti-migrant campaign in Hampshire as having extensive links to the organised far right, it’s getting harder and…
