A thousand flags. £10,000 on PA system, staging and a dozen portaloos. Much boasting. Claims that hundreds would be attending. Six coachloads… which turned out to be minibuses.
Everyone was emailed multiple times pleading for members and supporters to chip in a tenner for what turned out to be a humiliation. Few did, and now Golding has a big bill to pay. Yesterday was a day of expensive humiliation for Paul Golding and Britain First.
Surrounded and harassed by anti-fascist demonstrators
Hidden away from the public, who were nowhere to be seen, 1001 fascists from Golding’s shrinking Britain First club arrived in Nuneaton only to be surrounded by many more police and harassed by anti-fascist demonstrators. The not so secret location of their rally, given away by Golding hours before the event, was a large car park besides the Warwickshire Justice Centre.
At Nuneaton railway station, a gaggle of thugs from the Britain First Division anxiously awaited the arrival of the patriotic masses, only to be sadly let down. Police, called in from West Midlands and doing some welcome weekend overtime, bolstered local police forces. They had the afternoon nicely under control.
Anti-fascists, very noisy and an obvious annoyance to führer Golding and his stormtroopers, drowned out the Golding mobile PA system which, like Britain First, was malfunctioning
Anti-fascists, very noisy and an obvious annoyance to führer Golding and his stormtroopers, drowned out the Golding mobile PA system which, like Britain First, was malfunctioning. After the usual standing around, posing on mobile phones making important calls to people who never intended to join the march and rally, the BF rabble finally got moving.
A long line of police vans ensured that anti-fascists only got within shouting distance. Members of North Staffordshire Against Racism and Fascism, local trades unions, the Socialist Workers Party, the Labour Party, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and Stand Up To Racism were joined by a range of observers from local churches and mosques.
A mere ten minutes
The BF march, around 100 strong (including security) and bereft of local support, lasted a mere ten minutes before they arrived at an empty car park to be greeted by an overly-loud PA system and a huge screen.
A long, tedious and pseudo historical film featuring (surprise, surprise) party failure Golding, filmed at Silbury Hill and Stonehenge, went on far too long and people soon began to drift away. Observers, perhaps better educated than Golding himself, were surprised to learn that Silbury Hill is as significant as the Giza Pyramid complex in Egypt. Yes, you heard it here first.
Silbury Hill is as significant as the Giza Pyramid complex in Egypt. Yes, you heard it here first
After Golding had taken over from himself on screen, the main guest speaker was introduced. An American evangelist pastor called Greg Locke from Tennessee. Never heard of him, said most. A typical American preacher, all style and little substance, won warm applause from the crowd, but they’re not into religion.
Give us hatred!
Give us hatred! So on comes Ashlea Simon to deliver the usual crazy boasts about Britain First taking power. By this time, anti-fascist demonstrators had made their way to the car park and had to be held back by police. Around 30 nervous BF thugs moved in their direction, leaving Simon and Golding talking to around 50 souls. Not the rousing success we’d been promised.
In fact, the gaps in the audience were becoming increasingly obvious. After all, at least a third of those present had come for a fight. Politics? Nah, give us violence!!
We did learn one thing. And on Golding and Simon’s head be it. Their next foray is into the centre of Birmingham. They’re expecting mayhem. In fact, they’re looking forward to it, hoping violent counter-demonstrations will bolster their fading prospects.
Britain Last
It may be Britain First but, as many noted, half the talking was done by a foreigner! And this was a national BF turn out (claimed paid-up membership 25,000). Groups from Kent and Devon joined activists drawn from the Midlands and Yorkshire. But it was a paltry response to a much-advertised event.
As counter-demonstrators reminded us, Britain First is a threat, but Reform UK is a much bigger threat and that will be a major focus for in coming months. Back at BF HQ, there will be much scratching of heads. With ‘Tommy Robinson’ in prison, his supporters can get 15,000 onto the streets. Golding can’t get 150. And even then his own people are singing Tommy chants.
As we have often said recently, Britain First is on the road to extinction. It is merely a matter of time
Golding, now trying to position himself as a veteran 25-year “counter jihadist veteran campaigner” is actually many days and many dollars short. He’s been totally eclipsed by ‘Robinson’ (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) and is fast becoming entirely irrelevant.
That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be opposed, just that it’s becoming very difficult for him to claim any significance in what has become a political wasteland between the pseudo-respectability of Nigel Farage and the out-and-out street thuggery of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
As we have often said recently, Britain First is on the road to extinction. It is merely a matter of time.
- Others have put BF attendance higher, at 200-250. However, we had people in the BF rally who separately counted up the numbers several times and are adamant that it was never more than 90-100. We are confident with that figure. ↩︎
