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The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
How violent protests in Epping are being fuelled by disinformation
Enjoying beers in the afternoon sunshine on Epping High Street, the three local men were adamant about recent events in the town. Not only had Essex police used their own vans to 'bus in' antiracism counter-demonstrators last week to Epping, insisted one of the men, but masked undercover police officers had been among the 'lefties'. 'They were masked up and looked like foot-soldiers. Anyone who works in security will also pick up on how they were standing. If you looked you could see they held their hands together to give a discreet thumbs-up sign,' said the man, reluctant like so many other local people to go on the record, but who gave his name as 'Steve Davis'. The only problem with this analysis was: it appeared to be entirely wrong. Essex police has 'categorically' denied that it bussed in antiracism protesters. The suggestion of state-sponsored 'false flag' provocateurs – a frequent trope advanced on niche corners of social media at times of tensions on the streets – was also dismissed. The denials have often come too late to stop the conspiracies taking hold. They have been eagerly spread by the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, and also carried on the front page of the Daily Telegraph. Disinformation has been one of the most alarming characteristics of the violent protests in Epping, whose focus has been the use of the Bell hotel to house asylum seekers. Local people have continued to turn out for the protests, which were sparked after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault – but far-right activists have played a key role in promoting them online. Activists from groups including Homeland, Patriotic Alternative and the neo-Nazi White Vanguard movement have been present. Online misinformation and disinformation originating on niche corners of X has been amplified – seemingly without attempt to corroborate whether it are true – by politicians such as Farage and commenters from the GB News channel. Video clips of Stand Up to Racism protesters being taken out of Epping last Thursday in police vans, after they were surrounded by groups of men who threw projectiles at them and the police, were quickly repurposed on social media – and presented as if they were images of protesters being transported from Epping station. In fact, as Essex police has confirmed, the Stand Up to Racism protesters had made their way on foot from the station earlier in the day, while police escorted them on foot to enable them to exercise a right to protest. By Friday, however, rightwing commenters such as the ex-GB News presenter Dan Wootton were also misrepresenting the footage. 'They actually escorted people in police vans,' Wootton told the viewers of the online show he set up after leaving GB News. On Wednesday, Farage posted the same footage on X, saying: 'This video proves [police] transported leftwing protesters to the Bell hotel in Epping' and calling for the resignation of the Essex police chief constable, Ben-Julian Harrington. The force issued a statement saying this was categorically untrue, while Harrington made pointed comments in a press conference where he urged commenters to be responsible for what they said online, adding that it had 'real-world consequences'. Farage modulated his language after he was contacted by the Guardian on Wednesday, saying the police were 'escorting and bussing masked thugs to and from the protest', but his original tweet remains on X. Later on Thursday, and in a tweet shortly after 10pm on Wednesday, Farage went on GB News to say he had received a call from a police officer who was in charge of the operation to say he was wrong. 'If I was slightly out on accuracy I apologise but I think the gist of what I was saying was right,' he said. By then, however, the misinformation had spread like wildfire and done 'real damage', according to Lewis Nielsen of Stand Up to Racism. 'It is a complete lie to say, as Farage has claimed, that Stand Up to Racism protesters were 'bussed in'. We are mobilising antiracists, trade unionists, campaigners and faith groups against the far right in Epping,' he said. Yet more conspiracies – some outlandish, others more minor but corrosive – continue to circulate. They include unsubstantiated accusations that asylum seekers staying at the hotel are routinely shoplifting in Epping. Other claims – accompanied by pictures of the Stand Up to Racism protest – include one that Epping police has been paying protesters £40 'for three hours' work. It was among conspiracy theories being disseminated in online spaces including the Epping Says No! Facebook group, which has more than 1,600 members. Its administrators include activists from the far-right Homeland party, Adam Clegg and Callum Barker. The claims of undercover police officers being among the antiracism protesters have been accompanied by clips and pictures zeroing in on pictures of some of those protesters. The claims were also denied by Essex police, which has been trying to combat what it calls 'myths' in videos fronted by an assistant chief constable. The force specifically picked out the claim that there were 'police decoys in the crowd encouraging violence', rebutting it on its YouTube channel. Nielsen also denied the claim: 'It is categorically false that the police are involved in Stand Up to Racism protests, or play any role in organising them. If anything our protests – like others – have faced police repression in recent years.'
Spectator
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Darren Grimes wins Durham council seat for Reform
To Durham, the mining heartland of the UK and a traditional working class county. Yet despite its rich history with the reds, being the first of England's county councils to be controlled by Labour – with the party retaining that control for over a century – Nigel Farage's Reform party is making gains. Now it transpires that ex-GB News presenter Darren Grimes has won a council seat in Durham – receiving a staggering 49.7 per cent of the vote. Talk about a decisive victory! Grimes won the Annfield Plain ward in County Durham this afternoon as Farage's party continues to pick up council seats across the country. Reform's campaign claimed that 'Durham was broken' and sought to take advantage of growing disillusionment with Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot. Speaking ahead of the election, Grimes told the BBC that:
New European
10-03-2025
- Politics
- New European
Reform's war is anything but civil
A day after the seagull-hating Great Yarmouth MP gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he criticised the 'messianic' Farage's hold on the party, he was stripped of its whip over allegations of bullying. Lowe then issued a typically verbose statement claiming that the senior lawyer employed by the party had told him they were 'shocked and dismayed' by the lack of evidence against him. That lawyer has since issued their own statement, saying: 'I have not expressed either 'dismay' or 'shock' at any time as to the process. Nor have I said 'there is zero credible evidence against [Mr Lowe]', let alone said this 'repeatedly'.' The fall-out at Reform between Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe – which came as absolutely no surprise to anyone who has followed Farage's career and knows what happens to anyone who challenges his dominance – was as swift as it was brutal. What seems beyond doubt is that while one of the claims against Lowe – that he made verbal threats to Reform's Zia Yusuf – allegedly took place in December, it was only reported to police last Thursday, coincidentally the day of Lowe's Mail interview. For some reason, the party's Muslim chair seems to be being blamed by many supporters for the whole farrago, losing 5,000 followers on X in the aftermath of the incident, while Lowe has put on 20,000. Yusuf certainly acted fast in one regard – immediately after Lowe was stripped of the Reform whip following allegations of bullying, the party website had been stripped of all mentions of the man who had, until then, been of its most prominent media voices. Meanwhile, those who wonder if things can get even worse for Reform have a swift answer – the clownish ex-GB News pundit Darren Grimes has announced his intention to stand for the party.
New York Times
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Respect the badge': Welcome to one of football's daftest new traditions
As Real Madrid's players exit the straight-lined tunnel and head onto the pitch at the Etihad Stadium to warm up before the first leg of their critical Champions League play-off against Manchester City, something diverts their course. One after another, each player goes out of his way to curve his route. What could they be so concerned about walking on or over? Has a sinkhole dramatically opened up? Is there a big steaming pile of dog s*** on the ground? Advertisement Nope, it's just Manchester City's badge. Welcome to one of football's daftest new traditions. There are some aspects of respect in modern football that you can almost live with if you try really hard. Both teams lining up and shaking hands before a match was widely derided when it was introduced in 2004. Players from a now bygone era couldn't comprehend the notion of being nice to an opponent before kick off. The debate actually went on for a few years. In 2012 the former Liverpool and England midfielder turned pundit Jamie Redknapp slammed the handshaking practice as 'nonsense', 'an embarrassment' and, in the manner of an old man confused about TikTok, railed: 'I've never understood it. What does it achieve?' But like emojis and selfies, when acts are repeated ad nauseam, they just become part of everyday life and people stop complaining. Thus, pre-match handshakes stay and are now accepted. The problem is, once you say yes to one overzealous sign of respect, where do you draw the line? Not celebrating a goal scored against a former club is perhaps the ultimate nonsensical gesture of attempting not to cause disrespect. If you were that bothered about upsetting your old team, you wouldn't have scored the goal in the first place, pal. And what about, you know, the club that pays your wages and the new fans that support you? Are they OK with your first instinct after scoring a goal being to think about the opposition? Just celebrate the damn goal. Swapping shirts at half-time is another off-shoot that the modern game could do without. And then half-and-half scarves are the fan version of showing too much respect, but go to pretty much any Premier League match and not only will you see them on sale but yes, people actually buy them. The game has officially gone. Anyway, at the risk of going all Sean Dyche woke nonsense meme/old-man-shouting-at-a-cloud and channelling our inner faux-raged Redknapp, when it comes to players not walking over a badge — I don't understand this, what does this achieve? It is unclear where this curiously over-polite phenomenon originated, but it has become a thing. Real Madrid showing their respect for the #ManCity badge at the Etihad Stadium tonight. 👏 🎥 @realmadrid — City Xtra (@City_Xtra) February 10, 2025 We can only hope that the below video is a joke or parody, or that Rio Ferdinand was taking the mickey out of ex-GB News host Dan Wootton asking to be filmed laying flowers outside Buckingham Palace after the Queen died. But if not, well there are no words (which isn't great for a written article). Respect the Badge Ps best stadium in the world right now! @realmadriden — Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) May 8, 2024 There are a few more examples, the worst being Vinicius Junior stopping his running stride and leaping over a Real Madrid badge placed just off the pitch at the Santiago Bernabeu. Guys, it's not a museum. Nor a grave. No one is going to accuse you of disrespect to your club or the opposition if you walk over something which has literally been designed and placed so that it can be walked over. Ander Herrera had it right. But sadly the Spaniard bricked it when that particular incident caused a stir and felt the need to repeatedly apologise. 'Honestly, I didn't mean to do it,' he disappointingly claimed. 'The same as I want my badge to be respected, I do the same for the others. I didn't do it on purpose, and I say that after the game.' Advertisement Former England goalkeeper Ben Foster, of FozCast fame, is not necessarily the barometer when it comes to taking the temperature of the nation's footballing opinions, but he had it right on his podcast last year. 'I'm not having it. (It's a) massive pet peeve of mine,' he said. 'If you're going to put a badge in the middle of the walkway or the middle of the pitch where most people will walk, it's gonna get stepped on. It's not disrespectful for standing on it, against that club or their history. 'Just walk over it, bloody hell, it looks nice, it's very pretty, I don't do it with bad intentions, I just want to get out on the pitch and do my job. 'So Blackburn have got this at Ewood Park, yeah. If Man City or Arsenal get an FA Cup draw away at Blackburn, are they stepping on the badge? Course they are. But if they're away at Real Madrid they side-step it. Why? It looks good on camera. It's Real Madrid, they've got history, prestige, you don't want to step on that famous badge.' Look, maybe this doesn't matter at all. Maybe players being lovely and nice is a good thing and opponents should hold hands before they try and beat each other. Maybe this performative nonsense is just a great sign of respect. Or, just maybe, we should use the old tried and tested formula of 'if UEFA think it's a good idea, then it almost certainly is not'. Respect the badge 👊#UCL — UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 11, 2025 Case closed. Now we wait with baited breath to see if Manchester City's players go out of their way to avoid stepping on the Real Madrid badge at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night before they attempt to retrieve a 3-2 deficit in the second leg.
