Extremist threats to democracy

Democratic freedoms naturally threaten the very existence of dictatorships, totalitarian states and pseudo-democracies, as well as putative states run by terrorists such as IS (Islamic State). None of these can exist unless they impose abusive and degrading conditions on their populations, so as to cow them into submission. While the existence of coercive and often barbaric regimes may seem self-evident, and there are plenty of examples, perhaps a less obvious threat comes from the internal extremists within democratic societies who seek radical change by undermining or destroying basic freedoms. While these obviously include IS followers, others just as insidious and dangerous are lurking among us.

The Neo-Marxist Threat

A previous Risk Watch (Financial Mirror, 8-14 July 2015) referred to the neo-Marxist threat to national economies. Marxists’ primary goal is the destruction of capitalism and all its supporting institutions and processes. They do not care how they achieve it and who gets hurt in the process. So, in their eyes, it is perfectly legitimate, for example, to subvert and take over democratic political parties in order to secure control of government, to foment industrial strife between employers and employees by way of large scale strikes, and to undermine national economic strength so as to weaken elected governments.
Typically, public sector largesse, uncontrolled public spending, refusal to combat corruption, and weak tax collection feature in their toxic agenda to buy popular votes. In recent years, examples include:
• The activities of the ultra-left parties Syriza and Antarsya in Greece on the point of national bankruptcy (again) in 2015 and faced with EU bailout conditions;
• The 5-year regime of the AKEL (communist) party in Cyprus from 2008-2013, which saw them turn a government surplus of €14bn into a €17bn deficit, the near collapse of the banking system and the virtual bankruptcy of the government;
• The ultra-left government of Venezuela, which for decades under the leadership of Presidents Chavez and Maduro, has systematically wrecked the economy and impoverished its population, despite being a major oil producer;
• The left-wing Scottish National Party, which promotes high government spending despite its assumptions of never-ending North Sea oil revenues having been dashed by the global slump in oil prices; in addition, SNP has tried to introduce a compulsory ‘big brother’ welfare mentoring system for every child in Scotland, an overbearing abuse of parental rights.

Militant Tendency and Momentum

Another current example of left-wing subversion is the behaviour of the Momentum group within the British Labour Party. Traditionally, this party has included a broad spectrum of socialist views, ranging from social democrats on the liberal right, through mainstream socialists in the centre, to a mixture of hard-left Marxists and Trotskyists who either declined to join the Communist Party or the Socialist Workers Party or who left these to infiltrate the Labour Party. Unsurprisingly, until relatively recently the Labour Party annual conference always ended with a rousing rendition of the communist anthem The Internationale.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a hard-left group called Militant Tendency (and later just Militant) surfaced within the Labour Party. Its stated aim was to stop an alleged drift towards liberalism and make the Party a ‘true’ socialist party. Militant variously tried to take over local Labour constituency parties, oust sitting Labour MPs if possible, and promote only hard-left candidates. Council and constituency meetings would often be flooded with Militant supporters who would try to intimidate and bully members into submission, push through Militant motions, and generally noisily disrupt meetings that proved resistant. The Militant antics at Liverpool City Council, for example, became a national scandal.
Militant very nearly succeeded in taking over the Labour Party but the more moderate majority of Party members and MPs managed to fight back successfully against the so-called ‘Loony Left’, and Militant went into eclipse for some 25 years. Now, with the Labour Party leadership in the hands of Jeremy Corbyn and his deputy John McDonnell (both former Militant supporters), the old core Militant members plus ‘new blood’ hard-left firebrands feel emboldened enough to attempt another takeover via Momentum. Ordinary party members seem unaware of the true nature and stealth agenda of Momentum. Unlike the battle for Party control in the 1970s and 80s, now there is a real threat that the extremists will take over. There is, for example, reported evidence of growing anti-semitism within the Labour Party, including against Jewish Labour MPs, fomented by Momentum’s influence.

The Loony Right

If the ‘Loony Left’ were not a sufficient threat to democracy in the UK, there is also the ‘Loony Right’ seeking to control and subvert the British way of life.
Since at least the 1930s, there has always been a far-right movement in the UK.The British Union of Fascists, once ascendant in the 1930s, disappeared after WWII when a number of senior British fascists were imprisoned or executed for wartime treason in supporting the Nazis. A succession of similar bodies followed – National Front, British National Party, Britain First and English Defence League. Their common agenda is to stop immigration and, if possible, enforce the expulsion of all non-whites and non-christians. The leaders of Britain First, for example, are on public record as idolising Adolf Hitler and his policies. A number of NF, BNP, BF and EDL members have been convicted of offences, some violent, involving hate crimes and promulgating racial hatred.
In addition to the hard-right, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) has become a relatively softer rallying point for large numbers of disaffected conservatives who feel that the Conservative Party, their natural ‘home’, has been too weak on immigration controls and stopping perceived excessive interference by the EU in British daily life. Under UKIP’s charismatic former leader Nigel Farage, and using anti-immigrant rhetoric, UKIP and its allies managed to persuade sufficient British voters to vote for a British exit from the EU (or Brexit) in the 2016 referendum.
UKIP has always tried to appear non-racist but serious public gaffes by UKIP officials belie that appearance. Undoubtedly, large numbers of citizens with views allied to the extreme right-wing parties, vote tactically for UKIP candidates in elections and are keen Brexit supporters. It has become evident that many of them genuinely but naively believed Brexit propaganda which may have implied that immediately after a Brexit win a programme of immigrant repatriation and deportation would begin. As it clearly did not begin (and is never likely to), anger and frustration built up rapidly after the referendum, exhibiting itself as an upsurge of hate crimes against foreigners and ethnic and religious minorities. Hundreds of reported cases across the country include muslims and Asians being harassed, assaulted and spat at in the street and told to leave the country, and foreigners beaten up because they were speaking a foreign language or just looked foreign. In one notorious case, a Polish man was accosted in the street and beaten to death by a group of young thugs screaming the Brexit result as their justification. In another, just before the referendum, an anti-immigration obsessive with a history of far-right extremist views murdered the anti-Brexit Labour MP Jo Cox. The strident anti-immigrant rhetoric of some Brexit demagogues and their allies in the right-wing media, is arguably incitement to murder.
Meanwhile, the alleged murderer of Jo Cox has been formally charged under the Terrorism Act 2000, on the facts alone and without reference to any supposed mental ill-health of the defendant, with murder "made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause". The trial is due to start at the Old Bailey in November.

Conclusion

Some words and actions of extremist groups and their supporters often verge on the psychopathic. Thus, there is an evident threat to public order and safety and even to national security. For example, the Momentum policy agenda is to disengage the UK from any kind of military defence of the realm. Far-right extremists in the UK are known to have close ties with similar groups and individuals across Europe and the massacre conducted by the extremist Anders Brevik in Norway exemplifies the trans-national threat posed by such people. Extremism, whether left- or right-wing, within the population is just as much a threat to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as are terrorists such as IS.

Dr Alan Waring is an international risk management consultant who has written the Risk Watch column since 2004. His latest book is ‘Corporate Risk and Governance’ from Routledge ISBN 9781409448365. Contact [email protected] .