Those self-styled ‘nazi intellectuals’ at Heritage and Destiny magazine are very unhappy that we have paid tribute to Peter Marriner, the Searchlight mole in the far right for many, many years, who has just died. “Death of a traitor” trumpets their article, where they denounce as ‘treachery’ Peter’s success in stopping terrorist attacks.

They write: “The ‘anti-fascist’ magazine and intelligence organisation Searchlight yesterday announced the death aged 77 of Peter Marriner, a notorious traitor who spied on British nationalists for several decades.”

Losing it

That much you would expect and would certainly give Peter cause for wry satisfaction. But then, rage obviously getting the better of them, they lose it:

“Marriner’s treachery led to several nationalists serving prison sentences for possession of weapons including a submachine gun. The heaviest sentence (seven years imprisonment) was imposed on Birmingham-based BM activist Rod Roberts, a friend of H&D editor Mark Cotterill. Marriner informed Special Branch about a large quantity of guns and ammunition hidden at a Worcestershire farm owned by Roberts’ parents.”

So, let’s just be clear: according to Heritage and Destiny it was ‘treachery’ to stop preparations by neo-nazi British Movement members for a terrorist ‘race war’.

Oh, really?

Presumably, Mark (‘Loyalty is my honour’) Cotterill, Rod Roberts’ chum and the likely author of this ill-considered little piece, would have just let them get on with it.

You can read more here about the gun plot here: The Searchlight mole and a nazi weapons hoard

Safehousing terrorists

Another example of Peter’s ‘treachery’ which doubtless Cotterill would also deplore, was helping to expose the plot in 1980 and 1981 to safehouse fugitive Italian terrorists, including Roberto Fiore, in the UK.

A gang of them fled to this country to escape the massive police investigation which followed the bombing of Bologna railway station in August 1980.

Most were associated with the right wing terror group NAR, some of whose members had carried out the bombing.

Murdered a judge

It was Peter who identified the wanted NAR killer Alessandro Alibrandi attending a meeting of the neo-nazi League of St George at the Oak Tree Tavern in Acton in 1981, as guest of honour.

Alibrandi, wanted for murdering an Italian judge who had been investigating the far right, was introduced to the League by its International Liaison Officer, Steve Brady, the Italians’ first port of call in this country, who then farmed them out to be safe housed.

Heritage and Destiny has pretensions to be the intellectual journal of the thinking nazi. But every now and again, as it has now, the mask slips and they reveal themselves for what they truly are.

Last laugh

Cotterill also can’t help commenting on a television appearance Peter made, his face partly concealed back in 2000, where he described his undercover work on behalf of the police Special Branch to whom he also provided intelligence.

“…a badly disguised Marriner appeared on the BBC television documentary True Spies, and it became obvious to anyone who had known him that Marriner had been an informant for Special Branch”.

But Cotterill just doesn’t get it.

It was obvious because Peter wanted it to be obvious. His face was only partly concealed at his own request. At that point he had ceased most of his undercover work. He didn’t want to be recognised as he walked down the street in Birmingham, but he certainly wanted the likes of Heritage and Destiny and their vile associates to know exactly what he’d done to them.

It’s called having the last laugh.