THE SPECTATOR MAKES HUMBLING APOLOGY TO HOPE NOT HATE

It was first spread on X by Connor Tomlinson, a far-right activist who has called for a ban on “people without native British ancestry from being MPs”. The Spectator approached us for comment, and we told them that the passport claim was wrong. They published it anyway. Tomlinson later said he was “consulted” by the magazine for their article.

Unfortunately for them, The Spectator was forced to retract the story and apologise after HOPE not hate initiated legal proceedings. That is how accountability in journalism is meant to work. But instead of stopping there, they could not resist taking another swing.

The Spectator used their “apology” to deflect, claiming that many of Harry’s investigation’s targets “did not meet any realistic threshold for being considered far right”.

Beyond the most obvious extremists featured in our undercover project – like the anti-Muslim group Britain First, founded by BNP activists – Harry and his colleague Patrik Hermansson also exposed a million-dollar race-science company with a history going back to the Third Reich, its tech entrepreneur funder, and a controversial biotech project which has been described as a form of eugenics. Another was the race-science advocate Andrew Sabisky, who had been quietly working to write policy papers in Westminster, including for the prime minister at the time.

Harry’s work was so important exactly because of the nature of the networks and people we exposed. These were not just far-right street thugs; they were sophisticated and well-financed operators.

We don’t know if The Spectator’s multimillionaire owner, Paul Marshall, had any involvement in The Spectator story before it was published, but he (and, by extension, his magazine) certainly have reasons for disliking us.

Back in February 2024, HOPE not hate exposed the hedge-fund manager Marshall, who was hoping to become one of Britain’s most powerful media owners. Our investigation revealed that he had been secretly amplifying extreme anti-migrant and anti-Muslim content on X, hidden behind a private account.

One of the tweets that Marshall “liked” said it was only “a matter of time before civil war starts in Europe. The native European population is losing patience with the fake refugee invaders”.

Despite a bot attack five minutes after publication, the story, released in partnership with The News Agents, reached huge numbers and was covered widely by the media, including by The Times, The Independent, Novara Media, and The National. And it personally embarrassed a very powerful man.

Later that year Marshall purchased The Spectator, adding to his media empire which also includes the right-wing GB News and UnHerd website. Since our exposé of Marshall’s secret social-media presence, HOPE not hate has been named in multiple articles and blogs on the platforms he owns.

Like Paul Marshall, the groups that Harry exposed hide who they are. They sanitise their language and rely on respectability toavoid scrutiny. Undercover investigation is difficult, dangerous work and it takes a personal toll. And when a story is pursued all the way up to the top, retaliation often follows.

The Spectator’s apology shows exactly why this work matters. Their smear failed. They had to delete their original article – despite not telling their readers that it has been scrubbed from their website.

The Spectator seems more concerned with attacking those who pose a risk to Marshall’s reputation than supporting real investigative journalism. Their “apology” is best understood not as sincere regret, but as retaliation from a powerful man who is used to getting his way.

It hasn’t stopped. The Spectator’s latest shot across our bows came in February this year, when their associate editor, Lord Toby Young, complained in their magazine about our report on his appearance in the latest release of the Epstein files.

We wrote that, despite him claiming to have only “bumped into” Ghislaine Maxwell at parties, he had infact been in email contact with her. Two of Young’s emails appear in the Epstein files from 2001 and 2002. In one, he tells her about his appearance on The Weakest Link, joking that he “made a total tit” of himself. In another, Young simply writes:

“From your lips to God’s ears, as they say in your part of the world.”

Young says he never met Jeffrey Epstein. Nevertheless, we thought that the appearance of a peer in the Epstein files, in which he communicated with his enabler, was worth reporting.

HOPE not hate will not be deterred by attempts to scare or silence us. We will continue to investigate the far right in all its forms, from the street activists to the suits.