Buckley, also known as Jim Edward, has attended a number of far-right events and rallies over the past two years, including meetings of the anti-Muslim…
Buckley, also known as Jim Edward, has attended a number of far-right events and rallies over the past two years, including meetings of the anti-Muslim street gang Britain First.
Buckley has also called the British interwar fascist leader Oswald Mosley a “Great man”, claimed that Jews “promote miscegenation”, and written that
“If we had followed [Mosley] I truly believe there would have been no ww2 and we would have kept our form of nationalism just like Italy, German and Spain […] Instead we sided with the Communists and Zionist bankers against Europe”.
The candidacy of Buckley, who has claimed the Brexit Party asked him to represent them in the constituency, is cause for real concern. Throughout the campaign Farage’s party has been exposed again and again for failing to properly vet candidates, meaning that a number of known racists, homophobes and antisemites are set to appear on the ballot this Thursday under the Brexit Party name.
Buckley first emerged onto the far-right scene in early 2018, after being inspired by far-right extremist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson). He has gone on to attend meetings of Britain First (BF), an extreme anti-Muslim street movement that has performed “mosque invasions” in the UK. Buckley has been pictured alongside Paul Golding, BF’s unhinged leader, who has served jail time for racially-aggravated harassment.
Buckley has also collaborated with James Goddard, a racist best known for harassing politician Anna Soubry and the journalist Owen Jones near Parliament last winter. The Brexit Party candidate has also been photographed alongside Ezra Levant, head of Rebel Media, a far-right Canadian media outlet and former employer of Yaxley-Lennon, and appeared in a Rebel video filmed at a pro-Yaxley-Lennon event during the May European Election campaign, labelling then-Prime Minister Theresa May a “traitor”.
In 2018 Buckley launched his own group, The Manchester Collective, which he has described as “focused on opposing leftism only”, and “aiming to unite the British right”, although the group remains an irrelevance.
A search through Buckley’s social media quickly unearths numerous instances of racism and sympathy for the historical extreme right.
For example Buckley, now posting under the name “Man Chester” (formerly “Jim Edward”), has described Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, as a “Great man” who “Nearly stopped WW2”. In August, he shared a video of Mosley outlining his attitudes towards race overlaid with far-right imagery, writing “If this doesn’t capture your heart and lift your spirits… I’m sorry but you have no soul”. He also wrote “those “AntiFA [sic] clowns” at their core hate white people. The Nazis, at their core loved white people. Oswald Mosley crossed the floor too you know”.
In other comments, Buckley wrote:
“If we had followed [Mosley] I truly believe there would have been no ww2 and we would have kept our form of nationalism just like Italy, Germany and Spain (and the French would have come on board too.) Think about it, all those young lads lives saved. Instead we sided with the Communists and Zionists bankers against Europe. Doesn’t seem right to me”.
Several of Buckley’s comments outline conspiracy theories about Jewish plots to undermine white European society. Amongst numerous antisemitic claims is a post that reads
“If 2% of the population and 40% of US billionaires and similarly represented in our banks, movie/music/publishing/news industry, education systems etc, as well as Communist revolutionaries and Leftists in general (80% according to Ben Shapiro) that’s something to be concerned about.”
He goes on to claim that:
“Zionist Jews have admitted inspiring/manipulating us to go to war with Europe in the 30’s. Saying they’re not a problem is naive. A people so influential and so worried about us trying to wipe them out is a problem for us. The less ethnocentric we are the safer they are so they promote miscegenation because they want to avoid us trying to wipe them out because they want to avoid another rise of antisemitism/fascism”.
Buckley has also suggested that Jews view “the White male/Indo-European gentile” to be their “ultimate competitors”, and elsewhere interjected a racist rant about “blacks and muslims” to claim:
“Don’t forget the ‘you know who’s’ though, they have their own little PC term that gets thrown about a lot to shut down debate. Criticise their bias in media? Nazi. Complain about Hollywood Loxism? Nazi. Bias in academia? Nazi. Over representation in banks? Nazi. We need to grow thicker skins.”
“Loxism” is a far-right term for the supposed hatred of non-Jewish white people by Jews. When asked whether he was “sharing anti-Semitic news”, he replied “I share Islamophobic news too. Good job I don’t care about political correctness and name calling”.
There are many further such comments, screencaps of which are included at the end of this blog.
Throughout the campaign HOPE not hate has exposed numerous Brexit Party candidates for bigotry and links to the far right. Whilst the Brexit Party may seek to portray itself as fit for mainstream acceptability, it remains dangerous and divisive, and undeserving of your vote tomorrow.
You can find out more about the Brexit Party – and how to beat them – by reading our factsheet here.
Below are some assorted examples of the racism and antisemitism promulgated by the Brexit Party’s James Edward Buckley.
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