Katherine Stewart on Far-right Ideology and Its Threat to Democracy | The Warning Podcast

Nov 20, 2023 | Steve is joined by Katherine Stewart, an American journalist and author to discuss Far-right ideology and its threat to democracy, extremism in the American right and how this will impact the 2024 election

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How Ukip Normalised Far-right Politics

Since the Brexit vote in 2016, Ukip is no longer primarily concerned with attacking the EU. Now led by Gerard Batten, the party has started to normalise far-right ideas and has given roles to figures including Tommy Robinson. The Guardian's Peter Walker asks how it happened and examines what it means for British politics

THE GUARDIAN: Racism on the rise since Brexit vote, nationwide study reveals » | Robert Booth, Social affairs correspondent | Monday, May 20, 2019

Far-right Terrorism Threat Is Growing, Say MI5 and Police Chiefs

THE GUARDIAN: Andrew Parker and Cressida Dick say numerous plots have been foiled in recent years

Far-right terrorism has been identified as a key threat to the safety and prosperity of the country, according to the director general of MI5, Andrew Parker, and Cressida Dick, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police.

Writing in the Times, the pair warned that while Islamist terrorism remains the largest by scale, they are also “concerned about the growing threat from other forms of violent extremism … covering a spectrum of hate-driven ideologies, including the extreme right and left.”

“Over the past few years [police] have stopped a number of rightwing terrorist attacks from getting through,” they wrote.

In the wake of the Christchurch attacks, in which 50 Muslims were killed by a suspected white supremacist, security services worldwide have refocused on the threat of far-right extremists. » | Seth Jacobson | Friday, March 29, 2019

Swedish Asylum Policy Fuels Support for Far-right Nationalist Party

THE GUARDIAN: The Sweden Democrats’ anti-migrant stance is proving popular among those who oppose the entry of 190,000 refugees into the country this year

Growing frustration in Sweden with an asylum policy that will allow up to 190,000 refugees into the country this year is driving Europe’s self-declared “humanitarian superpower” into the arms of radical nationalism.

The Sweden Democrats (SD), a nationalist party that emerged from the neo-Nazi movement and has been shunned by Sweden’s mainstream parties because of its far-right immigration policies, is now the country’s third-largest party with 49 representatives in parliament.

An opinion poll conducted after the Paris attacks by polling firm Sifo found the SD would receive 17.6% of the public vote, marking a 4.6 point rise in support since the 2014 elections. This is one of the more conservative estimates of SD popularity, with several pollsters putting it as the largest single party in Sweden.

Anti-fascist groups have warned that, against a backdrop of Islamic State terror attacks and a refugee crisis, the far-right is rapidly gaining political legitimacy across Europe through the success of parties including the SD, Austria’s Freedom party , the Finns party in Finland, France’s Front National and the UK Independence party.

“They are a force to be reckoned with. As far as I see it, radical nationalism is not just one of the strongest growing political forces but ideologies in Europe,” Daniel Poohl, editor-in-chief of Expo, a pressure group that charts fascist activity in Sweden, told the Guardian.

“I think we have to be aware that the far-right didn’t disappear from Europe, it just had an enormous backlash after 1945. At that time democracy was the ID that destroyed society; today it’s multiculturalism that destroys the nation.” (+ video) » | Phoebe Greenwood in Trollhättan | Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Are the Fascists Coming Back to France?

Is Marine Le Pen's smiling face a mask?

BBC: The Front National's victory in the EU elections - its greatest triumph ever - is attributed to the policy of "detoxification" conducted by Marine Le Pen since she took over in 2011.

But its enemies remain unconvinced that the FN has become in any sense a normal or acceptable political force.

Mainstream politicians regard the FN as a classic party of the nationalist extreme, exploiting economic distress to whip up hatred of the outsider, the immigrant.

For the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, reacting to Sunday's vote, there is no question but that the FN is "fascist and extremist".

And in the UK, Nigel Farage of UKIP says he will never go into alliance with Marine Le Pen because of her party's "nasty, anti-Semitic past". » | Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris | Thursday, May 29, 2014

A Real National Front: The French Far Right Aims High

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: After its triumph in European elections on Sunday, the French far-right Front National is hoping to increase its power back home, with Marine Le Pen aiming for the presidency in 2017. With François Hollande's popularity plummeting, it is not out of the question.

Marine Le Pen shed tears of joy after her triumph in European Parliament elections on Sunday. When she arrived after midnight at a Parisian night club for the victory celebration with her fellow party members, the head of the far-right Front National (FN) embraced fans and family before letting the champagne flow. Marine's father Jean-Marie, who was re-elected to the EU body for the seventh time, was also on hand to congratulate his daughter. "It was a historic victory," he said.

By Monday morning, the emotional evening had already been forgotten and strategists were once again busy at work at the party's headquarters in Nanterre. Until Sunday's election, the Front National had occupied but three seats in European Parliament -- one each for Marine, her father and his political companion Bruno Gollnisch -- and had led a largely unnoticed existence on the political fringes in Brussels. Now, though, the party's caucus will grow by 21 representatives.

After pulling in a triumphant 25 percent of the vote, the Front National will now have the largest number of seats of any French political party in the European Parliament. Marine Le Pen has every intention of using the party's presence at parliament's headquarters in Strasbourg and Brussels for political gain. Some within the far-right in France are already considering their political futures -- all the way up to the presidential palace in Paris. » | Stefan Simons in Paris | Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Triumph für Marine Le Pen: Frankreich im Schockzustand » | Von Stefan Simons, Paris | Montag, 26. Mai 2014

French Political Class In Turmoil After Front National's European 'Earthquake' Victory

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The far-Right party has taken a quarter of the popular vote, beating both president Hollande's Socialists and the centre-Right UMP

France’s political establishment was in total disarray on Monday as its main parties reeled from the “earthquake” of seeing the far-Right Front National (FN) come first in European elections.

François Hollande, the deeply unpopular president, staged a crisis cabinet meeting to find ways to parry what is the French Socialist Party’s worst score since European elections were first held in 1979.

Sunday’s election saw the FN clinch almost 25 per cent of the vote, quadrupling its 2009 score in what its leader Marine Le Pen said translated a “massive rejection of the European Union”.

“We are witnessing the total rejection of the system,” she told Le Monde on Monday. “This is a kind of patriotic revolution” pitting the FN against the two main political parties, the Socialists and the opposition centre-Right UMP.

“The split is now between ‘nationals and globalists’,” she claimed. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, May 26, 2014

Far-right Parties Sweep into Power across Europe

DAILY EXPRESS: The far Right made sweeping gains across Europe last night as swathes of voters rejected ruling Left-wing parties.

France’s National Front became the country’s biggest party for the first time with more than 25 per cent of the vote, trouncing President Hollande’s Socialists.

Leader Marine Le Pen told a crowd of cheering supporters: “Tonight is a massive rejection of the European Union. What is happening in France signals what will happen in all European countries – the return of the nation.” » | Monday, May 26, 2014

France: Front National Sweeps to Victory

French politics in turmoil following the shock

Read the Daily Mail article here

Front National Wins European Parliament Elections in France

THE GUARDIAN: Elections return record number of MEPs opposed to EU project, with far right winning in France, Denmark and Austria

European politics were jolted as seldom before on Sunday when France's extreme nationalists triumphed in the European parliament elections, which across the continent returned an unprecedented number of MEPs hostile or sceptical about the European Union in a huge vote of no confidence in Europe's political elite.

France's Front National won the election there with a projected 25% of the vote, while the governing socialists of President François Hollande collapsed to 14%, according to exit polls.

In Britain the Nigel Farage-led insurrection against Westminster was also expected by all three main parties to deliver a victory for Ukip in the election, albeit with a lower lead than some opinion polls had been predicting in recent weeks. Turnout in Britain was 36%, higher than at the last European elections in 2009. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Sunday, May 25, 2014

Far-right National Front Triumph in France as Voters across Europe Turn to Extremists and Anti-EU Parties

Jubilant: French National Front leader Marine Le Pen reacts
to exit polls revealing her party won the election

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Exit polls have placed the hardline party as the country's most popular / The ruling socialists appeared to trail well behind with just 14 per cent / FN leader Marine Le Pen heralded victory for 'sovereign people of France' / Prime Minister Manuel Valls described result as 'a shock, an earthquake' / Le Pen called for French parliament to be dissolved to 'control borders'

The far-right National Front has topped polls in France as countries across Europe turned to extremist and anti-EU parties.

Exit polls suggested the anti-immigrant party led by Marine Le Pen had taken more than a quarter of votes, pushing President Hollande’s Socialist Party into third place with just 13 per cent.

It is the first time that the party – which wants to drastically cut immigration and reduce the influence of Islam – has come first in a nationwide French election in its 40-year history. Projections suggest it could take 25 Euro seats out of 74.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the National Front victory was ‘a political earthquake in France’, while ecology minister Segolene [sic] Royale said: ‘It’s a shock on a global scale.’

The result was the most striking of a number of successes for far right and anti-EU parties across Europe.

Chillingly, there were indications that a neo-Nazi candidate for the NPD party could be elected in Germany - giving the far-right a foothold for the first time in decades. » | Daniel Martin, Whitehall Correspondent | Sunday, May 25, 2014

Marine Le Pen Wins Record Victory for Front National in French Elections

French far-right leader of the National Front Party, Marine Le Pen

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen's far-Right Front National party has scored its highest ever percentage of the vote, exit polls in France show

France’s far-Right Front National was on course for an historic victory in European elections on Sunday night, coming top in a national election for the first time in its 42-year history in a score it said represented a “massive rejection” of the EU.

Early exit polls placed the anti-European, anti-immigrant party first with 25 per cent of the vote – a result that was even better than expected.

The result put the FN well ahead of the opposition centre-Right UMP party, on 20.6 per cent, which lost nine percentage points compared to 2009.

The ruling Socialists clinched a paltry 14.1 per cent, the second drubbing they have received in nationwide elections in two months after suffering heavy losses in municipal elections in March.

Estimations suggest that the FN was on course for clinching 24 seats in the European Parliament – a major jump from the three it won in 2009 – with the UMP taking 19, the Socialists 13 and the Greens six. » | Henry Samuel, Nanterre | Sunday, May 25, 2014

Change Is in the Air in Hungary


LE TEMPS: Hongrie – La revanche de Viktor Orban : Le Fidesz de l’ancien premier ministre Viktor Orban a décroché la majorité des deux tiers des sièges au parlement après le second tour des élections législatives dimanche. L’extrême droite Jobbik devient la troisième force politique du pays après les socialistes qui s’effondrent >>> Maurin Picard | Lundi 26 Avril 2010

Billy Briggs –The Far Right Is On the March Again: The Rise of Fascism in Austria
MAILOnline: In Austria's recent general election, nearly 30 per cent of voters backed extremist right-wing parties. Live visits the birthplace of Hitler to investigate how Fascism is once again threatening to erupt across Europe.

Former Waffen SS officer and unrepentant Nazi Herbert Schweiger. Photo courtesy of the Mail Online
Beneath a leaden sky the solemn, black-clad crowd moves slowly towards a modest grey headstone. At one end 
of the grave, a flame casts light on the black lettering that is engraved on the marble. At the other end, an elderly soldier bends down to place flowers before standing to salute.

From all over Austria, people are here to pay their respects to their fallen hero. But the solemnity of the occasion is cut with tension. Beyond the crowd of about 300, armed police are in attendance. They keep a respectful distance but the rasping bark of Alsatians hidden in vans provides an eerie soundtrack as the crowd congregates in mist and light rain.

We’ve been warned that despite a heavy police presence journalists have often been attacked at these meetings. If trouble does come then the mob look ready to fight. There are bull-necked stewards and young men who swagger aggressively.

This is a neo-Nazi gathering and in the crowd are some of Austria’s most hard-faced fascists. Among them is Gottfried Kussel, a notorious thug who was the showman of Austria’s far-right movement in the Eighties and Nineties until he was imprisoned for eight years for promoting Nazi ideology.

Today he cuts a Don Corleone figure as he stands defiantly at the graveside. His neo-Nazi acolytes make sure no one comes near him and our photographer is unceremoniously barged out of his way.

Ominous-looking men with scars across their faces whisper to each other and shake hands. These are members of Austria’s Burschenschaften, an arcane, secretive organisation best known for its fascination with fencing, an initiation ceremony that includes a duel in which the opponents cut each other’s faces, and for its strong links to the far right.

Incredibly, standing shoulder to shoulder with these hard-line Nazi sympathisers are well known Austrian politicians. At the graveside, a speech is made by Lutz Weinzinger, a leading member of Austria’s Freedom Party (FPO)[sic], who pays tribute to the fallen. 

This is a gathering in memory of an Austrian-born Nazi fighter pilot, who during WWII shot down 258 planes, 255 of them Russian. Such was Major Walter Nowotny’s standing at the time of his death in 1944 that the Nazi Party awarded him a grave of honour in Vienna’s largest cemetery, close to the musical legends Mozart, Brahms and Strauss.

But in 2005 that honour was revoked and his body moved to lie in an area of public graves. The decision infuriated the far right and made their annual pilgrimage an even greater event.

Today, the anniversary of Nowotny’s death, also coincides with Kristallnacht, the ‘night of broken glass’ in 1938 when 92 people were murdered and thousands attacked across Germany as stormtroopers set upon Jews in an outpouring of Nazi violence.

Some 70 years on from that infamous pogrom, the world faces a similar financial crisis to the one that precipitated the rise of Hitler and, in chilling echoes of Thirties Europe, support for far-right groups is exploding. Hitler’s birthplace has become the focus for neo-Nazis across the world.

And so I [Billy Briggs] have come to Austria to investigate how Fascism and extremism are moving, unchecked, into the forefront of its society. >>> Billy Briggs | Saturday, March 14, 2009

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As If We Needed the Archbishop of Canterbury to Tell Us This!
THE TELEGRAPH: The recession could lead to an increase in support for right-wing political groups, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has warned.

Dr Williams said that public anger, caused by rising unemployment and falling house prices, may lead to xenophobia and prejudice.

He claimed the recent election of a British National Party councillor in Kent was a warning sign that must not be ignored.

His comments come amid growing concern about the social unrest that could be triggered by the worsening economy.

Last week it emerged that riot police fear Britain is heading for a "summer of rage" as middle-class victims of the recession join activists to hold mass protests outside bank headquarters.

Thousands of workers at oil refineries and power stations across the country staged walkouts recently after Italian and Portuguese staff were given jobs at Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire ahead of local workers.

A leaked Home Office memo written last year also predicted that crime and racial tensions will rise during the recession, while funding cuts could make it more difficult for police to cope.

The letter written by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, warned that financial hardship could increase hostility towards immigrants and drive voters into the arms of the far-right BNP – which could in turn see victims of racism turn to terrorism. >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, March 3, 2009

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