The fascists taking credit for the Epping protests

MEDIA BRIEFING: THE HOMELAND PARTY

The Homeland Party is now the largest fascist organisation in the UK. The group is attempting to capitalise on infighting within Reform UK, presenting itself as a more hardline alternative to the party and pushing for “remigration”, a euphemism for mass deportations. 

• Led by Kenny Smith, a former British National Party (BNP) organiser, Homeland is a fascist political party that splintered from neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative (PA) in April 2023. 
• The split was strategic rather than ideological, stemming from a desire to contest local elections and to establish a “squeaky clean media image”. 
• Desperate to shake off PA’s toxic reputation, the group uses inoffensive branding, tightly controlled messaging and euphemistic language. 
• Homeland has also attempted to establish links to much larger and more influential groups overseas, thereby inflating its own importance. This includes Alternative für Deutschland in Germany and Konfederacja in Poland.

Infiltrating Councils

Homeland pursues the “ladder strategy” outlined by Steve Brady of the National Front in 1987. Brady contended that establishing power at the local level through sustained, localised campaigning was a necessary precursor to national power. 

The group has several councillors at the community and parish level, the lowest tier of local government, hoping to establish local support bases and build towards future elections. Activists can often enter these posts practically unopposed. They include:

• Anthony Burrows: Blackwell Parish Council, Derbyshire, East Mids
• Andrew Piper, Market Deeping Town Council, Lincolnshire, East Mids
• Connor Marlow: Fulford Parish Council, Staffordshire, West Mids
• Fraser Patterson: Flitwick Town Council, Bedfordshire, Eastern
• Roger Robertson: Hartley Wintney Parish Council, South East
• Paul Padgett: Netheravon Parish Council, Wiltshire, South West
• David Gardner: Forfar Community Council, Angus, Scotland
• Simon Crane: East Calder and District Community Council, West Lothian, Scotland
• Jamie Brown: Invergowrie and Kingoodie Community Council, Dundee, Scotland

How to talk about Homeland without amplifying its messages

Extreme organisations often seek coverage in mainstream media outlets and the local press to increase brand recognition and gain new followers. Homeland routinely overstates its size and influence while downplaying its extremism, and misleading reporting can play into the group’s hands. We recommend that coverage of Homeland:

• Accurately reflects the group’s fascist ideology, rather than simply “right wing” or “far right” 
• Avoids exaggerating the group’s size 
• Avoids interviewing members of the group, especially in a non-adversarial manner 
• Avoids reprinting the group’s leaflets 
• Avoids quoting from the group’s propaganda at length 
• Avoids publishing images that prominently display Homeland’s branding

If you are preparing a report on Homeland, we invite you to contact us in advance for details about its members, leaders, and ideology on [email protected]. 

Homeland is rife with extremists

While the group tries to project an image of “sensible nationalism”, it retains a cadre of ideological fascists at its core. These include:

• Anthony Burrows, National Nominating Officer and parish councillor. Burrows has promoted the work of the infamous American nazi William Pierce, including The Turner Diaries, a lurid race war fantasy that has inspired numerous terrorists.
  
  Burrows lost his shotgun licence in 2021, the judge rejecting his 2023 appeal on the grounds that he had “demonstrated views that were sympathetic towards violence aimed at non-white ethnic or religious groups, and his reckless provision of links to potential terrorist manifestos and literature were such that he was a danger to the peace”.
  
• Daniel Gale, Treasurer and former East Midlands Regional Organiser, claimed on 26 August 2020 that “Jewish power is the first and most urgent question to be dealt with”, adding:
  
  “We don’t have to choose to deal with the jewish question OR the muslim question. To solve one, we must solve the other […] Jewish power will not simply allow nationalists to take power and repatriate the instruments of white destruction. In order to prevent the demographic replacement of the indigenous Britons we must put a stop to Jewish interference in our politics”.
  
• Alec Cave, National Media Officer and former South East Regional Organiser, is known for his failed attempt to sue his former employer, the Open University, for alleged “discrimination” after he was sacked for racism. Cave’s case was dismissed in May 2023, the judge describing his beliefs as “akin to Nazism” and “not worthy of respect”.

• David Gardner, National Stewarding Officer and community councillor, made a series of anti-Jewish posts on 19 September 2022, including: “the jews occupy ALL the positions of influence pretty much, all the positions that can cause Whites problems anyway. If we removed them from those positions, the problem for Whites reduces dramatically.” 
• He also wrote on X/Twitter on 26 January 2023: “Churchill and the Allies won. Yay! Now we have trans children, mass black migration into the UK, a debt based economy, White guilt pushed everywhere, lbgt propaganda in our schools, an obesity epidemic and our infrastructure crumbling. All things NS [National Socialist] Germany wouldnt have allowed”.
• Connor Marlow, former West Midlands Regional Organiser and a parish councillor, posted a photo of himself performing a Hitler salute to a fascist fitness group in 2021. Marlow has also used extreme racial slurs, posted pictures of Hitler as well as a photo of the gatehouse of the Auschwitz Birkenau extermination camp made to resemble a smiley.

• Simon Crane, Scotland Regional Organiser and community councillor, co-hosted the official PA Talk podcast alongside Kristofer Kearney, a former member of the now-banned neo-Nazi terror group National Action, who is currently serving a four-year, eight-month sentence for terror-related offences. Guests on the show include the Australian nazi and serial criminal Blair Cottrell and the influential American antisemite Kevin MacDonald.

• James Munro, a core activist in Scotland, was previously a member of the tiny but extreme Scottish Nationalist Society, a group that originally formed under the name “Scottish National Socialists”. He has been photographed performing a nazi salute.

• Callum Barker, a core activist in Essex, has posed with a copy of the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski (AKA The Unabomber), the American terrorist who murdered three people and maimed many more in a 17-year bombing campaign. Barker also took part in a PA art competition themed around the Nazi slogan “Blood & Soil”. 

• Jamie Brown, a community councillor, has made numerous highly antisemitic statements and has spoken positively of Nazi Germany. He also praised Edward I for banishing all Jews from England:

• Tom Huburn-King, West Midlands Regional Organiser, was a member of White Stag Athletic Club, a secretive neo-Nazi group described by a judge as having “a criminal and terrorist purpose”.  He also wrote “Happy birthday uncle A 🥳” on 20 April 2022, in celebration of Hitler’s birthday. 

• Chris Gilmartin, a core activist and writer for the Homeland website, posted an audio recording on 23 December 2020 which he simulated the rape of another chat group user in graphic detail. He elsewhere praised the Christchurch shooter, Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 Muslims at two New Zealand mosques in 2019.

There are many further examples. Read our in depth report on Homeland here.