Is there life in UKIP yet?
Ailing party’s decision to team up with controversial YouTubers provides much-needed ‘shot in the arm’
UKIP bosses are celebrating a reversal in their struggling party’s fortunes after gaining around 500 new members following their decision to join forces with three activists linked to the “alt-right”.
After achieving its aim in the Brexit referendum, UKIP failed to win any seats in the 2017 general election, before suffering more losses in last month’s local elections.
But according to The Guardian’s Nesrine Malik, “UKIP isn’t dead. It is reinventing itself as an extremist anti-migrant party.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Having taken the reigns in April, new party leader Gerard Batten has “opened its doors to three controversial YouTube personalities”, The Independent reports.
New UKIP members Mark Meechan, Paul Joseph Watson and Carl Benjamin have all made headlines with their contentious views.
Meechan sparked an outcry last year when it emerged that he had trained his girlfriend’s pug dog to give Nazi salutes when it hears statements such as “gas the Jews” and “Sieg Heil”.
Watson is a senior editor at InfoWars, the US-based website run by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that deals with so-called fake news.
The site has alleged that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, in which more 20 children and six adults died, was a hoax.
The third YouTuber, Benjamin, was last year accused of promoting a series of tweeted rape threats against Labour MP Jess Phillips.
Responding after the MP said that “people talking about raping me isn’t fun, but has become somewhat par for the course”, Benjamin tweeted: “I wouldn’t even rape you, Jess Phillips.”
The decision to allow the trio to join UKIP has attracted considerable criticism.
A spokesman for the group Hope Not Hate, which campaigns against racism and fascism, said: “There are attempts afoot to forge an alliance between extreme figures who have made their names online, those involved in electoral politics, and those out on the streets, around an anti-Muslim and pro-‘free speech’ agenda.
“In following the path he’s chosen, Batten is leading UKIP down a dangerous route, and the acceptance of figures such as Watson is further evidence of this.”
However, The Guardian’s Malik says the appointments may prove to be a “shot in the arm” for the ailing party, after a year of turmoil that culminated in the ousting of Henry Bolton as leader.
“What [the three] have in common is less a coherent political position, and more a sort of uber-troll politics that – once plugged into a global network that has managed to infiltrate mainstream parties and power – can be significantly disruptive,” Malik says.
Meanwhile, a UKIP spokesperson responded to the criticism by arguing that “bringing people into mainstream politics is a good thing”. When quizzed about Benjamin’s comments to Phillips, the spokesperson added: “One hopes if he says something like that again then we would have to look into it.”
However, the representative said UKIP “took issue” with the notion that the three new members were from the far-right.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Oysters from New York's past could shore up its future
Under the Radar Project aims to seed a billion oysters in the city's waterways to improve water quality, fight coastal erosion and protect against storm surges
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - November 24, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - taped bananas, flying monkeys, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published