Racism in Britain – 2024-04-30 16:59:42

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is a member of the British Labor Party, has been the target of criticism from those opposed to the Ulez area. AOP

The Facebook pages maintained by members of the British Conservative Party have become a hotbed of racism, white supremacy and harm-doers, says Unearthed, the investigative journalism unit of the environmental organization Greenpeace. The findings were also reported by, among others, the British newspaper the Guardian.

Unearthed found a total of 36 closed Facebook groups criticizing London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, i.e. Ulez (Ultra Low Emission Zone).

The groups are not directly connected to the Conservative Party, but three people with close ties to the party act as administrators of almost every group.

For example, Hayward Heath town councilor who belongs to the Conservative Party Rachel Cromie was an administrator in all 36 groups.

Islamophobia, racism and supporters of white supremacy

The editors of Unearthed became members of the six groups with the largest number of members.

In them, the journalists found dozens of Islamophobic and racist messages and comments. Publications made in the groups also encouraged cameras monitoring the Ulez area. The members of the group engaged in this kind of activity call themselves “blade runners”.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of the City of London, was the target of racist publications. He was described in the messages as, among other things, a “supporter of terrorism”. Shadiq is a member of the British Labor Party.

Some of the groups’ members also announced that they were ready to pay for the shooting of the mayor.

Conservative Party mayoral candidate Susan Hall was a member of at least six groups and published in two of them.

According to Unearthed, at least two groups had shared a white supremacist slogan combined with a picture of the country’s former prime minister, Winston Churchill.

However, the phrase that reads: “We must secure the existence of our people and the future of white children” comes from the founder of The Order, an organization that supported white supremacy in the United States David Lane from the mouth.

According to Unearthed, the sentence in question is called “14 words” and it is the most famous slogan of the movement supporting white supremacy.

The Conservative Party broke away from the publications

The groups included a total of seven MPs from the Conservative Party. One of them was Bob Neill.

According to the Guardian, Neill does not believe that the racist and vandalism publications represent the majority who oppose Ulez, but he characterized the publications as “completely inappropriate”.

The British broadcasting company BBC reported on Sunday that the country’s police minister Chris Philp was also a member of the groups. He told the BBC that he condemned the acts of damage aimed at cameras in the Ulez area, but pleaded that he cannot be held responsible for publications made by others.

According to the Guardian, after the disclosure of the information, the Conservative Party announced that it would review the “process and policy” regarding Facebook groups.

According to a statement from a party spokesperson, the Conservative Party “unequivocally condemns all discriminatory language and will never encourage or condone vandalism or criminal activity.”

According to the Guardian, members of the Conservative Party were not involved in publishing racist or vandalizing messages.