French
DeutschLiberty GB
Liberty Great Britain | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Paul Weston |
| Founded | March 2013 |
| Dissolved | November 2017[1] |
| Merged into | For Britain |
| Headquarters | Regent Street, London |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[2][3] |
| Website | |
| libertygb.org.uk (Archive) | |
Liberty Great Britain or Liberty GB was a minor far-right[4] British nationalist political party founded and led by Paul Weston that described itself as "counter-jihad".[5]
Liberty GB was anti-immigration, anti-Islamic and traditionalist.[6] The group's Facebook page described it as "patriotic counter-jihad party for Christian civilisation, Western rights and freedoms, British culture, animal welfare and capitalism".
History
[edit]Foundation by Paul Weston
[edit]Paul Weston, the founder, was a former member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and was that party's candidate in Cities of London and Westminster at the 2010 general election.[7] He left UKIP over what he described as its failure to address issues related to Islam in Britain, and took over the British Freedom Party (BFP) from Peter Mullins. That party formed an alliance with the far-right English Defence League. Weston left the BFP in 2013. He has predicted that within 20 years there will be a war in Britain between the white working class and immigrants. He is married to a Romanian and claims to have been a deep sea diver, a pilot in Africa and a property developer in the Czech Republic.[8]
It was registered with the Electoral Commission by Weston and George Whale on 5 March 2013.[9]
2014 European election
[edit]Liberty GB stood three candidates in the 2014 European Parliament election in the South East England constituency: Weston, Enza Ferreri (Liberty GB's media officer) and Jack Buckby (Liberty GB's outreach officer).[10] Buckby founded the "National Culturists" while at university in Liverpool in 2012.[11] Its three candidates received 2,414 votes (0.11%), placing it 14th of the 15 parties contesting the election.[12]
2014 Paul Weston arrest
[edit]On 26 April 2014, Weston was arrested while addressing passers-by outside Winchester Guildhall. A member of the public complained to police and he was detained after failing to move on under a dispersal order. He was further arrested on suspicion of religious or racial harassment.[8][13] Weston's speech quoted from Winston Churchill's 1899 book, The River War, about Churchill's experiences as a British army officer in Sudan; the passage quoted was critical of Islam. Weston is a former UKIP candidate who left that party over what he described as its failure to address issues related to Islam in Britain, and then joined the British Freedom Party.[8]
2014 Tim Burton radio host trial
[edit]Tim Burton, a radio presenter who was a member of Liberty GB, was acquitted of charges of racially aggravated harassment on 4 May 2014 at Birmingham magistrates' court. He had tweeted comments about Fiyaz Mughal OBE, a Muslim campaigner of Tell MAMA UK.[3]
2016 Batley and Spen by-election
[edit]Following the killing of the incumbent Labour MP Jo Cox, Liberty GB contested the Batley and Spen by-election (the Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and UKIP declined to contest it). The party's candidate was Jack Buckby, who was a member of the youth division of the British National Party (BNP) under Nick Griffin before leaving the party. He says he left because he believed that the BNP was too racist.[14] Buckby polled just over 1% of the vote; he lost his deposit, as did all the candidates except the winner, the Labour candidate Tracy Brabin.
Dissolution by Paul Weston
[edit]Paul Weston dissolved the party in November 2017, choosing instead to back Anne Marie Waters' new party, For Britain.[15]
Electoral performance
[edit]General election, 7 May 2015
[edit]The party contested three constituencies, obtaining a total of 418 votes.
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Ladywood | Timothy Burton | 216 | 0.6[16] |
| Lewisham West and Penge | George Whale | 44 | 0.1[17] |
| Luton South | Paul Weston | 158 | 0.4[18] |
2016 Batley and Spen by-election
[edit]| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batley and Spen | Jack Buckby | 220 | 1.1[19] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "The closure of Liberty GB". Liberty GB. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ "Liberty GB – An Insight into the 'Group'". TellMAMA. 14 January 2014.
- Micklethwaite, Jamie (27 April 2015). "Sydenham and Forest Hill hustings cancelled after candidates allegedly refuse to appear at event with Liberty GB member George Whale". News Shopper.
- Dearden, Lizzie (5 February 2016). "Former Ukip candidate and Pegida UK leader says 'Muslims should not hold political power' and claims Syrian refugees do not exist". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14.
- Commons, Jess (5 October 2015). "Why You Need To Watch The Documentary Exploring If Britain Actually Is Racist". The Debrief. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016. - ^ a b Mike Lockley (4 May 2014). "Radio host cleared over 'scumbag' tweet jibe to Musilm [sic] campaigner". Birmingham Mail.
- ^ Siobhan Fenton. "Jo Cox: Former BNP politician Jack Buckby to contest by-election for murdered MP's Batley and Spen seat". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
- ^ Lee, Benjamin (4 September 2015). "A Day in the "Swamp": Understanding Discourse in the Online Counter-Jihad Nebula" (PDF). Democracy and Security. 11 (3): 248–274. doi:10.1080/17419166.2015.1067612. S2CID 62841363. Open source version
- ^ Sonia Gable (12 March 2013). "Liberty it isn't". Searchlight. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014.
- ^ Kevin Rawlinson (25 November 2011). "English Defence League prepares to storm local elections". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ a b c Martin Evans (28 April 2014). "Election candidate arrested over Churchill speech". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Liberty GB registration record". Electoral Commission.
- ^ "South East Euro Candidates 2014". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
- ^ Matthew Francey (20 February 2013). "Jack Buckby is proud to be Britain's next Nick Griffin". Vice.
- ^ "Vote 2014 – South East". BBC News. 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Euro candidate Paul Weston arrested over Islam remarks". BBC News. 28 April 2014.
- ^ Cowburn, Ashley (20 June 2016). "Jo Cox: Liberty GB Move to Contest Labour MP's Former Seat Branded 'Obscene' and 'Contemptible'". www.independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ "An Important Announcement from Paul Weston Concerning the Future of Liberty GB". Liberty GB. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ "ELECTION 2015 Birmingham Ladywood". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
- ^ "ELECTION 2015 Lewisham West & Penge". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
- ^ "ELECTION 2015 Luton South". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
- ^ Samantha Gildea (21 October 2016). "Batley and Spen by-election: Labour's Tracy Brabin elected as new MP". Huddersfield Examiner. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016.