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2 Jul, 5 tweets, 1 min read
Far-right candidates have “sunk without a trace” in the Batley and Spen by-election, losing their deposits and winning just 1.4% of the vote combined

They knew they wouldn't win, but the results are humiliating

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
Five extreme right-wing and nationalist groups contested the seat where Jo Cox was murdered by a neo-Nazi in 2016

The by-election acted as a lightning-rod for fringe figures seeking to raise their profiles, mainly by capitalising on the Batley Grammar School cartoon row
The five candidates received a combined total of 538 votes - 1.4%

The highest-profile figures fared extremely badly. Former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen got 50 votes

Anne Marie Waters, leader of the far-right For Britain Movement, received 97
The range of candidates was evidence of the fracturing of British right-wing movements in recent years, including two groups that span out of Ukip infighting

Ukip itself swung to the right during an identity crisis following Brexit, and now runs on the slogan “save Britain”
I'm not going to share the campaign material I collected during the race, but it ranged from rancid to ridiculous

Anne Marie Waters' posters called for people to “stand up to Sharia in Batley and Spen", while Fransen's proclaimed: "Real patriots vote for Jayda”

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More from @lizziedearden

Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
5 Jul
Senior police officers have undermined the government's justification for controversial new laws to crack down on “noisy” protests, saying they did not ask for the powers

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is returning to parliament today

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
The government has defended its widely opposed proposals, telling journalists that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Metropolitan Police had “been consulted and support these measures”

But the NPCC and Met say they did not ask to impose conditions based on noise
The govt also points to a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary that said police needed to better balance the rights of protesters and wider public, but the watchdog did not look at the proposed noise law

Senior police and crime commissioners are also opposed
Read 5 tweets
Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
15 Jun
The Met Police has changed its statement over a BBC journalist being chased at an anti- lockdown protest

lts initial statement "suggested officers were not in the immediate vicinity of the incident" but footage showed them there and failing to intervene or help
Met says first statement "was drafted based on the 45 second video of the incident which was shared very widely on social media this morning. That video began on Richmond Terrace and out of sight of officers on nearby Whitehall....
...We were subsequently made aware of a longer piece of footage lasting 3 minutes and 28 seconds which shows the incident in full. It is clear that the incident began on Whitehall where officers were present"

Met says it "acknowledges concerns raised about the police response"
Read 6 tweets
Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
15 Jun
The Met Police has been accused of “institutional corruption” following a £16m probe into the unsolved murder of private detective Daniel Morgan

An independent panel said it was using term "in the present tense" and criticised commissioner Cressida Dick
independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…
The panel concluded that the force’s “first objective was to protect itself” over allegations corrupt officers were involved in the murder

There have been no successful prosecutions despite four major police investigations and other probes, and evidence was "irretrievably lost"
Dame Cressida Dick was personally criticised for the way she handled the inquiry's access to police records and systems

The panel did not call for her resignation but Mr Morgan's brother Alastair said she should 'consider' it. We have a conference at Scotland Yard at 4pm
Read 4 tweets
Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
15 Jun
Police have issued a warning over the potential use of 3D-printed guns by terrorists after the first UK case involving the homemade weapons

Neo-Nazi Dean Morrice had parts of a 3D-printed firearm at his home near Bristol, alongside bomb components

independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…
Morrice shared the manifesto of Stephan Balliet, who took a partly 3D-printed gun on a 2019 rampage targeting Muslims and Jews in Germany

Balliet called it “live testing” and listed his primary objective as “proving the viability of improvised weapons”

independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…
Morrice, a former British army driver, also shared manifestos by the Christchurch and Norway shooters, and ran his own social media channel that encouraged far-right terror attacks

Police said he had “terrorist intentions” himself. He was jailed for 18 years
Read 5 tweets
Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
14 Jun
Priti Patel told police she wanted an “early intervention” in the Extinction Rebellion protest outside a Rupert Murdoch-owned printworks, a court has heard

The officer who commanded the operation said his decisions were not affected by the home secretary

independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…
An independent review of the Herts Police operation highlighted the “volume of contact” between the home secretary and chief constable, adding:

“Political contact needs to be carefully considered in future to avoid decision-making falling outside recognised command structures"
Assistant chief Constable Owen Wetherill, who was gold commander for the protest, denied being put under “political pressure” himself and said his decisions on how to respond to protesters were not affected

The court heard the chief constable called Mr Weatherill at 4.45am...
Read 4 tweets
Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
13 Jun
Exclusive: Another terror attack by a released prisoner is “in the pipeline” because of a lack of control over extremists in British jails, the government has been warned

Evidence heard at inquests into the Fishmongers' Hall attack sparked fresh concern

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
Weeks after Usman Khan's attack, his associates at HMP Whitemoor tried to murder a police officer inside the jail

Following that, there were two further terror attacks by released prisoners - in Streatham and Reading
Ian Acheson @NotThatBigIan, who carried out review of Islamist extremism in prisons, said: “There are good people doing their best to make sure that another outrage won't happen, but being good isn't the same as doing well. Another Khan is in the pipeline.”
Read 8 tweets

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