Anti-fascist group consults lawyers over 'violence' remarks on LBC
Anti-fascist charity Hope Not Hate has hit back at Nigel Farage after the former UKIP leader called them ‘extremists’ who ‘pursue violence’ amid his spat with the widower of slain MP Jo Cox.
The group said ‘we have no idea on what Mr Farage bases his outrageous comments’ and said it was consulting with lawyers about his ‘potentially libellous statement’.
Farage was on LBC radio discussing his Twitter spat over last night’s Berlin lorry attack with Brendan Cox, whose late wife Jo was murdered by a neo-Nazi terrorist a week before the EU referendum.
Farage had blamed the attack, which killed 12 and injured 48, on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policies, to which Brendan replied:
@Nigel_Farage blaming politicians for the actions of extremists? That’s a slippery slope Nigel
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) December 20, 2016
On LBC today, Farage said:
“Well of course he would know more about extremists than me, Mr Cox, he backs organisations like Hope Not Hate, who masquerade as being lovely and peaceful but actually pursue violent and very undemocratic means.”
Hope Not Hate, responding in a statement, said:
“We are aware of a serious and potentially libellous statement made about Hope Not Hate by Nigel Farage on LBC radio this morning.
We have no idea on what Mr Farage bases his outrageous comments. Hope Not Hate has a proud history of campaigning against extremism and hatred.
We will not be making any further comment until we have had the opportunity to consult with our lawyers.”
* * *
UPDATE: Hope Not Hate has written to Farage:
.@hopenothate has just sent Nigel Farage a legal letter demanding his retracts and apologises or else we will start legal action.
— Nick Lowles (@lowles_nick) December 20, 2016
Adam Barnett is staff writer for Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBarnett13
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8 Responses to “Hope Not Hate hits back after Nigel Farage’s ‘extremists’ slur”
GodfreyR
Farage would have a field-day in outing Hope Not Hate’s connections in the web of extreme / far-left nuttier organisations and characters. Even if they won, they would have to face off a huge amount of negative publicity whereas Farage would simply go up in many people’s estimation and probably be able to crowd-fund the costs etc.
Fred
Christmas At Adam Barnett’s House
———————————————————
“Merry Christmas, Adam,” said his father.
“Sshh!” said Adam, looking around nervously. “Don’t say ‘Christmas’! Christianity is a repressive ideology. It’s offensive to Muslims. Say ‘Happy Holidays’ instead.”
“Oh, well, Happy Holidays, Adam. Here’s your present.”
Adam unwrapped it eagerly. Then his face fell. “An iPhone? An iPhone? Are you insane?”
“What’s wrong, Adam? Don’t you like it?”
“We can’t use Apple products! They employ Chinese workers in sweatshop conditions. They don’t even pay their taxes. They are evil corporate robber barons! You must take it back!”
“Oh, yes, sorry, I forgot…”
Then his sister, Julie, stepped forward.
“Never mind. Here’s my present. Merry Christ- er, I mean Happy Holidays, Adam.”
“A book!” Adam said, feeling the shape. “Wow! Is it that richly-illustrated biography of the Tolpuddle Martys I’ve telling you about?”
“Well, open it and see.”
“My hero! George Orwell’s collected columns at Tribune magazine! Fantastic. I will read them out, one after another, this afternoon.”
“Maybe after the Queen’s Speech, Adam,” said his mother from the kitchen.
“The Queen? We’re not having the Queen in this house! She is the head of a repressive feudal system. Buckingham Palace should be closed immediately and converted into a food bank for the unemployed!
“Oh, yes, I forgot you hate royalty…”
But Adam was distracted by something. “Wait,” he said suspiciously, looking at the book packaging. “Where did you get this? It was from our local bookshop, wasn’t it?”
“Er, no…they didn’t have it in stock. So I got it from Amazon.”
“Amazon? Amazon?! Are you on drugs? We can’t shop at Amazon. It’s the worst of them all! They don’t pay their proper taxes. They abuse their workforce in Dickensian conditions. We can’t be a party to that! You must take it back immediately.”
“Anyway, look everyone,” announced his mother. “Christmas dinner’s ready.”
“Turkey looks delicious,” said his father approvingly.
“Turkey?” shouted Adam. “What are you, crazy? We can’t eat meat! Turkeys are bred in barbaric conditions and slaughtered simply for the enjoyment of humans. All meat is murder! Throw it away at once!”
“Cheer up Adam,” said his brother, “there’s a match on TV this afternoon.”
“Football? You don’t mean on Sky? That’s owned by Murdoch. We can’t possibly watch it.”
“All right, then. We’ll go out for a spin in my new Audi.”
“Cars? Do you know the damage they do to the environment? I won’t drive one.”
“Cigar?”
“Causes cancer. Owned by evil capitialists.”
“Beer?”
“Ditto.”
“Come on, Adam, lighten up, everyone likes a drink at Christmas. I mean…at holiday time.”
“Populism, that’s what that is,” Adam said with a snort. “Nothing that is popular is desirable. Populism is simply the manifestation of how the working classes have been fooled by top-hatted industrialists into accepting-”
“Oh for goodness sake,” exclaimed his brother. “At least open my Christmas card. And by the way, they’re charity cards. I know how much you approve of those.”
“Yes,” said Adam, opening the card. “Thanks. Hang on. What’s this? Mencap? These are Mencap charity cards!”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It’s a British charity! It supports British people! Britain is an old colonial power and should be repatriating wealth to foreign countries. We can’t support British people. We must give to India and Africa and Pakistan! I’m not interested in helping this awful country.”
“Oh shut up. Here, pull a cracker with me.”
“I will not. Crackers are ideologically unsound. One person gains at the expense of another. Only crackers that provide exactly-equal rewards to both participants can be permitted.”
“Hmm. I’m not sure people would really enjoy that, Adam…”
“They simply don’t know what’s best for them. They need others to tell them, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m afraid all our crackers are the regular kind…”
“Then I shall pull one with myself. There. I’ve won. And nobody else has lost. It’s a world we should all be striving for. When I get my prized job at the Guardian, I shall call for all crackers to be designed with just one end.”
“Hmm.”
“Now,” announced Adam. “I shall bestow on you my presents. They have been vetted by a small team of London-based present bloggers who know exactly the kind of presents that are best for the population. They’re more intelligent, you see, than the average present buyer. They been to university. They know people called Hatty and Clyde.”
“Oh boy,” sighed his father. “Just like last year.”
Jimmy Glesga
Seems the Islamists hate and give no hope to their targets.
Jimmy Glesga
Please explain editor why the comments made by Farage are a slur!
Mary Doyle
This is the man who declared Brexit without a shot being fired! Does he live in my world were plenty of people have had to deal with consequences of Brexit & the ‘poison’ & permissions given to people to bestow on everyone who is them or an ‘expert’. A post-truth world is a very daunting prospect, who or what should we believe? Sorry I forgot in this post-truth world you can’t be sued because we don’t believe in experts. Sorry just went into one there….