Traditional Britain Group

{{alt-right}}
The '''Traditional Britain Group''' may seem at first like a quirky, quintessentially British Conservative organisation where everyone likes to dress up with a fondness for the [[good old days]] and formal dress. However, appearances can be misleading: TBG is in fact a far-right nationalist organisation, founded in 2001, opposing immigration and the UK's (former) membership of the [[European Union]].<ref name=mcsmith/> 

[[Gregory Lauder-Frost]], a man with particularly distasteful far-right associates through the [[Western Goals Institute]] (the predecessor to TBG)<ref name="Eye1481">{{cite journal |title=Far-right & wrong |journal=Private Eye |date=October–November 2018 |issue=1481 |page=9}}</ref> is its vice-chairman and treasurer. Its chairman is listed as Merlin Hanbury-Tracy (Lord Sudeley).<ref name=tbgabout>[http://traditionalbritain.org/about/ About], Traditional Britain Group website, accessed 21 September 2022</ref>

Lord Sudeley, who died in September 2022,<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/09/07/lord-sudeley-peer-who-courted-controversy-fondness-reactionary/ Lord Sudeley, peer who courted controversy with his fondness for reactionary causes – obituary] ''The Telegraph'' (London) 7 September 2022</ref> was a right-wing campaigner and vice-chancellor of the International Monarchist League, former president of the [[Conservative Monday Club]], and Patron of right-wing magazine ''Right Now!''. Iain Duncan Smith, while leader of the Conservative Party tried to distance the Tories from Sudeley, the Monday Club, and ''Right Now!'' over their attitude to race.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-axe-right-wing-group-over-race-issue-9260930.html Tories axe right-wing group over race issue], Independent (London), 18 October 2001</ref> TBG has been described by the anti-fascist group [[Hope not Hate]] as the UK arm of a pan-European [[alt-right]] network.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Batchelor |first1=Tom |title=[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/alt-right-antifa-undercover-europe-expansion-gay-far-right-white-supremacist-racism-islamaphobia-a7957256.html Anti-fascist activist goes undercover with 'alt right' to expose movement's rapid European expansion] |accessdate=19 October 2018 |work=The Independent |date=20 September 2017|location=London |page=10}}</ref>

==Principles==
The group's stated principles include opposition to egalitarianism; a return to tradition; the centrality of the "[[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]] family"; spiritual values and "the sacred nature of [[Christianity]] and our [[Church of England|Established Church]]"; rolling back the [[welfare state]]; and opposition to immigration, [[multiculturalism]], political correctness and [[cultural marxism]].<ref name=tbgabout/> Guest speakers have expressed a desire for restrictions on immigration similar to those in Hungary under [[Viktor Orbán]],<ref>John Kersey. [https://traditionalbritain.org/blog/the-current-immigration-crisis-the-traditional-britain-groups-annual-dinner-address/ "The Current Immigration Crisis: The Traditional Britain Group's Annual Dinner Address"]. ''Traditional Britain Group''. Retrieved 24 October 2018.</ref> and the group's Facebook page has called for the compulsory deportation of Doreen Lawrence (mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence) and "millions of others ... to return to their natural homelands".<ref name="BbcAu13">{{cite news |title=[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23617555 Rees-Mogg's dinner speech 'mistake'] |accessdate=19 October 2018 |work=BBC News |date=9 August 2013}}</ref> Because black people obviously can't be nominated to the House of Lords on their own merit, Lauder-Frost views her appointment as a form of [[tokenism]], calling her a "{{wpl|spiv}}".<ref name=mcsmith />

==Associations==
[[File:Rees Mogg TBG.jpg|thumb|left|[[Jacob Rees-Mogg]] (centre), speaking at the 2013 annual dinner of the Traditional Britain Group, a far-right organisation. To the right is [[Gregory Lauder-Frost]]; to the left, a 20-year old history student with an interest in [[race and intelligence]] pseudoscience who left the TBG following the Rees-Mogg controversy.<ref>Usborne, Simon (16 August 2013). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-the-third-man-in-that-traditional-britain-photo-and-what-he-says-about-the-new-loony-right-8771448.html "Revealed: The third man in THAT Traditional Britain photo - and what he says about the new loony right"]. ''The Independent''.</ref>]]

In 2011, [[Gerard Batten]] ([[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] leader from April 2018 to June 2019) spoke at the group's annual dinner.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bloom |first1=Dan |title=[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ukips-new-leader-shared-black-12049053 UKIP's new leader shared black-tie dinner table with right winger filmed calling Vanessa Feltz a 'fat Jewish s**g'] |accessdate=19 October 2018 |work=The Mirror |date=18 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lowles |first1=Nick |title=[https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ukip-new-leader-gerard-batten-nigel-farage-return-henry-bolton-a8218006.html Ukip is finished after electing Gerard Batten, but Nigel Farage is set to make a comeback] |accessdate=19 October 2018 |work=The Independent |date=19 February 2018}}</ref> Batten has been criticised by former UKIP leader [[Nigel Farage]] for making the party lurch even further to the right in his support for [[Tommy Robinson]].<ref>Hornall, Thomas (20 September 2018). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-ukip-far-right-tommy-robinson-gerard-batten-a8547981.html "Ukip faces 'utter marginalisation' if it embraces far right politics, Nigel Farage warns"]. ''The Independent''.</ref>

However, as Batten was a political nobody then, its main brush with fame was when Conservative MP [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]] spoke there in 2013 (despite previously being warned by anti-fascist group ''Searchlight'' of TBG's far-right views), bringing a lot of attention to its views on race and leading to criticism of Rees-Mogg, who then turned round and criticised the group.<ref name="BbcAu13" /><ref name=mcsmith>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gregory-lauder-frost-exposed-the-tory-fringe-group-leader-with-nazi-sympathies-8755093.html Gregory Lauder-Frost exposed: The Tory fringe group leader with Nazi sympathies], Andy McSmith, ''Independent'', 9 Aug 2013</ref> In their annual conference of that year, the group was addressed by American white nationalist [[Richard Spencer]] and Austrian anti-Islam activist Markus Willinger.<ref name="Porter2">{{cite news |last1=Porter |first1=Tom |title=[https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tory-think-tank-invites-anti-black-traditional-britain-group-anniversary-dinner-1610411 Tory think-tank invites anti-black Traditional Britain Group to anniversary dinner] |accessdate=19 October 2018 |work=International Business Times UK |date=9 March 2017}}</ref>

In October 2014, former UKIP MEP {{wpl|Godfrey Bloom|Godfrey "Bongo Bongo Land" Bloom}} and [[Liberty GB]] founder Paul Weston spoke at a TBG conference concerning "the basis of culture".<ref>[https://traditionalbritain.org/events/traditional-britain-conference-basis-culture/ "Traditional Britain Conference – the Basis of Culture"]. Traditional Britain Group website.</ref> However, for 2017, TBG seems to have upped the right-wing ante by having as speakers for their national conference of that year the even more hard-right [[Anne Marie Waters]] (another UKIP candidate, also criticised by Farage, now created her own [[For Britain|her own far-right, anti-Islam outfit]]) as well as [[Martin Sellner]] (boyfriend of [[Brittany Pettibone]] and Austrian leader of the far-right [[Generation Identity]] (GI) movement), as well as friendly ex-[[British National Party|BNP]] faces such as [[Mark Collett]].<ref>Mulhall, Joe (22 October 2017). [https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2017/10/22/waters-sellner-speak-traditional-britain-group-conference/ "Waters and Sellner speak at Traditional Britain Group conference"]. ''Hope not Hate''. Retrieved 24 October 2018.</ref>

In October 2018 it hosted a conference with speakers including representatives of the extremist parties [[Freedom Party of Austria]] (FPO) and [[Alternative für Deutschland]] (AfD), as well as far-right troll [[Katie Hopkins]].<ref>[https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/far-right-group-tory-links-13362615 Far-right group with Tory links invites speakers from parties linked to neo-Nazis], Daily Record, 5 Oct 2018</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Townsend |first1=Mark |title=[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/sep/23/katie-hopkins-speak-far-right-for-britain-islamophobe-holocaust-denier Katie Hopkins to speak at far-right rally with Holocaust denier] |accessdate=19 October 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=23 September 2018 }}</ref> 

==Speakers==

*[[Carl Benjamin]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGThFG4lHx0 Carl Benjamin AKA Sargon of Akkad]. youtube.com.</ref>
*[[Gregory Lauder-Frost]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUNTfasfACs Gregory Lauder-Frost, Vice-President, TBG]. youtube.com.</ref>
*[[Simon Webb]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I38k2hzFLvk Simon Webb (History Debunked), TBG Christmas Social]. youtube.com.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

[[Category:British politics]]
[[Category:Hate groups]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Nationalism in the UK]]
[[Category:Political action groups]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:British right wing]]

Categories: British politics, Hate groups, Homophobia, Nationalism in the UK, Political action groups, Racism, British right wing