Nationalist Alliance

The Nationalist Alliance is a far right movement in British politics, that aims to serve as an umbrella group for the various White nationalist groups in Britain. The party was registered with the Electoral Commission in 2005,^[1] although its registration has since lapsed.^[2]

Activity

The NA sought to build a closer alliance with other groups on the far right working outside the BNP and sought to negotiate a merger with the Freedom Party, although the proposed merger did not come to pass as Adrian Davies was reluctant to join up with some of the more extremist elements of the NA.^[3] Seeking to further their ties with other activists, the party held a meeting attended by members of the White Nationalist Party and National Front at Rawdon Conservative Club on 10 September 2005 as a memorial to John Tyndall,^[4] where they were addressed by Tyndall supporter and BNP member Richard Edmonds, NA party leader and ex-leader of the WNP Eddy Morrison, and John Wood, formerly a senior member of the WNP.^[5] The meeting was attacked, with windows being smashed.^[4]

Split

Although the meeting at Rawdon demonstrated the support that the NA was building up amongst far right activists it also helped to bring about the groups destruction. A photograph of the membership at the meeting appeared in Searchlight, leading to accusations being made about who was to blame for its appearance. Along with the failure of the Freedom Party initiative and general ideological clashes the unity within the NA did not last and in September 2005 Morrison, Wood and Watmough split to form the British Peoples Party. ^[6]

The split led to recriminations across the far right, with Morrison attacked by Martin Webster, with whom Morrison was in dispute over which of them was the political heir of the late John Tyndall, with Webster accusing Morrison in his web bulletin of using the NA simply to swindle the members out of their money, a charge Morrison denied.^[7]

Current NA

Despite the split, the Nationalist Alliance continued to operate, offering a policy platform that is nativist, in favour of deportation, supportive of stronger punishments for criminals including capital punishment and in favour of white nationalism.^[8] After the split they sought, largely under the direction of former Burnley BNP activist Sharon Pastow, to continue their moves towards a wider alliance by working closely with the National Front and the England First Party (EFP), whilst also holding a largely dual membership with the Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood.^[9]

In November 2006 a leading member Mick "Belsen" Sanderson was murdered in Nottingham following a fight with another NA member.^[10] In September 2007 the member, John Pakulski, was sentenced to six years imprisonment for manslaughter whilst Catherine Parker-Brown received a community order for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after she was found to have cleaned the scene of the crime.^[11]

Parker-Brown, a former organiser for the BNP in the East Midlands, is the nominal leader of the NA, although their membership is largely interchangeable with the now more important EFP.^[12] The NA's sister group, the Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood, has ceased to exist, with most of its membership transferring to the Racial Volunteer Force.^[13] Beyond an internet presence and its occasional publication Axiom (previously the group had two publications, Vanguard and Imperium, although these both switched to the BPP following the split) the party is largely defunct, with the group's entry in the Register of Political Parties lapsing in December 2008.^[14]

Previous use of the name

The name had previously been used 'in house' for an initiative driven by Andrew Brons to achieve a reconciliation and joint electoral action between the Flag Group and the BNP in 1986, a move which ultimately came to nothing. ^[15] The current incarnation of the Nationalist Alliance has no connection to this proposal however.

References

1. ^ Register of Political Parties retrieved from Internet Archive
2. ^ Electoral Commission defunct register
3. ^ Searchlight, No. 363, September 2005, p. 25
4. ^ ^{a b} "Far-right event sparks violence". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 September 2005. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Farright-event-sparks-violence.1195234.jp. Retrieved 12 February 2010. 
5. ^ Searchlight, No. 364, October 2005, p. 9
6. ^ Searchlight, No. 368, February 2006, p. 13
7. ^ Searchlight, No. 366, December 2005, p. 26
8. ^ Official Nationalist Alliance website
9. ^ Searchlight, No. 379, January 2007, p. 17
10. ^ Searchlight, No. 379, January 2007, p. 23
11. ^ Searchlight, No. 391, January 2008, p. 23
12. ^ Searchlight, No. 388, October 2007, p. 16
13. ^ Searchlight, No. 391, January 2008, p. 23
14. ^ Searchlight, No. 391, January 2008, p. 23
15. ^ N. Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp. 36-38

External links

• Official Nationalist Alliance website