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Traditional Britain Group
AbbreviationTBG
Formation2001
PurposeTraditionalist conservatism
Location
  • United Kingdom
President
Vacant
Websitehttps://traditionalbritain.org

The Traditional Britain Group (TBG) is a British far-right pressure group that describes itself as traditionalist conservative and "home to the disillusioned patriot".[1][2] It was founded in 2001 by Gregory Lauder-Frost, with Merlin Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley as its president.[3] Sudeley was still in office when he died in 2022.[4]

Advocacy group Hope not Hate claims TBG is part of a UK-wide network linked to the European alt-right.[5] Private Eye has described TBG as far-right and a successor to the WGI.[6]

History and ideology

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TBG was founded in 2001. It opposes non-white immigration to the UK and, prior to Brexit, it opposed the UK's European Union membership.[7][8][9] The organisation's stated principles include opposition to egalitarianism; the centrality of the heterosexual family as the primary social unit; traditional Christian values and maintaining the Church of England as England's established church; rolling back of the welfare state; and opposition to immigration, multiculturalism, political correctness and Marxism.[10]

TBG is in favour of state-sponsored repatriation. Their Facebook page carried a post calling for the deportation of anti-racist campaigner Doreen Lawrence and "millions of others ... to their natural homelands".[11] Gregory Lauder-Frost, the founder of TBG, called Lawrence a spiv.[7] Lauder-Frost was formerly the officer of the Conservative pressure group Monday Club and vice-president of the Western Goals Institute (WGI).[12][13]

Speakers

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Image of Jacob Rees-Mogg, in a black suit and bow-tie, stood up to debate at the Cambridge Union
The group came to prominence after it was announced that Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured here at the Cambridge Union, a debating society) spoke as guest of honour in 2013. He later called his attendance 'a mistake'.

TBG has been addressed by speakers such as Simon Heffer[14] and Sir Roger Scruton.[15] In 2011, Gerard Batten, former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) spoke at the group's annual dinner; upon his election as leader, UKIP said Batten "does not share the views of TBG. He is invited by many organisations to speak and TBG had a list of reputable speakers such as Simon Heffer previous to his invitation. Since he attended things have come to light. He would not consider a further invitation."[15][16]

TBG came to national prominence when Liberal Conspiracy said Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke as a guest of honour at the TBG's 2013 annual dinner. Three months later, this led to criticism of Rees-Mogg, who then said he had not properly checked the organisation before speaking, despite being warned by Searchlight about TBG's far-right associations prior to attendance; Rees-Mogg disassociated himself from the group and apologised for his attendance, calling it "a mistake".[6][7][11] It was also attended by former Ulster Unionist Party MP John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney.[17] Two months later, American white nationalist Richard Spencer was invited to address the group.[18]

Hope not Hate noted the 2017 annual conference was addressed by Anne Marie Waters, former UKIP candidate and founder of the For Britain party; Martin Sellner, leader of the Austrian Identitarian Movement (German: Identitäre Bewegung Österreich) and attended by Mark Collett, former leader of the youth wing of the British National Party.[19] In March of that year, the Bow Group granted TBG a special concession to its 65th anniversary celebrations.[20]

In October 2018, James Thompson, a former senior lecturer at UCL, pulled out of his speaking slot at the group's annual conference at the last minute following pressure from the media.[6] Thompson lost his honorary professorship at UCL after Private Eye "revealed he had been organising secretive conferences on racial eugenics – and inviting notorious white supremacists" (see London Conference on Intelligence controversy).[6] The columnist Katie Hopkins spoke at TBG's 2018 annual conference.[21]

Estonian Finance Minister Martin Helme addressed the 2019 conference,[22] as did the vice-chairman of the Polish National Movement Krzysztof Bosak.[23]

Katie Fanning, a former director of UKIP,[24] spoke at the 2021 conference on the subject of "anti-white messaging and critical race theory-based teachings"[25] in Britain's universities, and that she was suing her former university for discrimination.[25] Gunnar Beck, a German far-right politician, academic and lawyer, spoke to the group on the "Strange Death of Europe".[26]

Danes Helmuth Nyborg and Emil Kirkegaard spoke at the 2022 conference.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pitel, Laura (9 August 2013). "Right wingers urge Doreen Lawrence to return 'home'". The Times. p. 4. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  2. ^ Legal Challenges to the Far-Right: Lessons from England and Wales, Natalie Alkiviadou, Routledge, ISBN 036740706X, chapter 1
  3. ^ Holehouse, Matthew (8 August 2013). "Jacob Rees-Mogg's shock at dinner with group that want to repatriate black Britons". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Obituary, the Lord Sudeley, 1939-2022, Traditional Britain President | Traditional Britain Group".
  5. ^ Batchelor, Tom (20 September 2017). "Anti-fascist activist goes undercover with 'alt right' to expose movement's rapid European expansion". The Independent. p. 10. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "Far-right & wrong". Private Eye (1481): 9. October–November 2018.
  7. ^ a b c McSmith, Andy (9 August 2013). "Gregory Lauder-Frost exposed: The Tory fringe group leader with Nazi sympathies". The Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  8. ^ Hayek: A Collaborative Biography: Part XIII: 'Fascism' and Liberalism in the (Austrian) Classical Tradition, Robert Leeson, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 9783319913575, page 36
  9. ^ Ukip is finished after electing Gerard Batten, but Nigel Farage is set to make a comeback, The Independent, 19 February 2018
  10. ^ About, Traditional Britain Group website, accessed 18 October 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Rees-Mogg's dinner speech 'mistake'". BBC News. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  12. ^ Briggs, Billy (18 November 2019). "Race hate Scots 'go home' threat targeted female student". Daily Record. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  13. ^ Hannan, Martin (27 July 2019). "Scots community council chairman and far-right group VP fined for racist abuse". The National. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  14. ^ "STATEMENT: Traditional Britain Group on race row". ITV News. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  15. ^ a b Bloom, Dan (18 February 2018). "UKIP's new leader shared black-tie dinner table with right winger filmed calling Vanessa Feltz a 'fat Jewish s**g'". The Mirror. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  16. ^ Lowles, Nick (19 February 2018). "Ukip is finished after electing Gerard Batten, but Nigel Farage is set to make a comeback". The Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  17. ^ Traditional Britain Group (17 May 2013). "Traditional Britain Dinner with Jacob Rees-Mogg MP". TraditionalBritain.org.
  18. ^ Renton, David (16 August 2021). Labour's Antisemitism Crisis: What the Left Got Wrong and How to Learn From It. Routledge. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-000-42348-8.
  19. ^ Mulhall, Joe (22 October 2017). "Waters and Sellner speak at Traditional Britain Group conference". Hope not Hate. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  20. ^ Briggs, Billy (5 October 2018). "Far-right group with Tory links invites speakers from groups linked to neo-Nazis". Daily Record. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  21. ^ Townsend, Mark (23 September 2018). "Katie Hopkins to speak at far-right rally with Holocaust denier". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  22. ^ "EKRE deputy chair attends far-right conference in London". news.postimees.ee. 29 October 2019.
  23. ^ Traditional Britain Group (28 October 2019). "Krzysztof Bosak _ Traditional Britain Conference 2019". YouTube. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  24. ^ Halliday, Josh (27 May 2019). "Humiliated Tommy Robinson sneaks out of election count early". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  25. ^ a b "Katie Fanning – University Discrimination – TGB 2021 Conference Speeches". Traditional Britain Group. November 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  26. ^ Traditional Britain Group (31 October 2021). "Gunnar Beck, MEP, Alternative for Germany (AfD)". YouTube. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  27. ^ State of Hate 2023. Hope not Hate. p. 119.
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