EXCLUSIVE: UK Government Hands Almost £500,000 to Anti-UKIP Campaign Group

EXCLUSIVE: UK Government Hands Almost £500,000 to Anti-UKIP Campaign Group
Raheem Kassam

British taxpayer money is funding ‘anti-racism’ groups which actively campaign against British political parties, Breitbart London can exclusively reveal, and has handed nearly half a million pounds of taxpayer money to one group with far-left links and a strong and overt anti-UKIP agenda.

After a series of Freedom of Information requests, Breitbart London has learned that at least 18 local authorities and government bodies, including the Welsh Government, have been helping fund the campaign group ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ (SRTRC).

The funding can take the form donations or grants to cover the costs of the group’s activities such as workshops or school visits. The group has been heavily involved with anti-UKIP campaigning online. 

Some of the largest sums have come from the Welsh Government, who since 2006 have given the group £66,838.17. Other big funders are Sunderland City Council, who have given nearly £130,000 over the last decade and South Tyneside Council, who have given over £50,000.

Although Show Racism the Red Card claims to be an anti-racism education charity that “utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society,” but its activities are becoming increasingly anti-UKIP and has developed links with the far-left.

This is especially concerning, not just because of the government funding it receives, but also because it regularly holds educational workshops in schools, the costs of which are often directly covered by the local authorities hosting them.

Britain’s election regulator, the Electoral Commission, requires registration for organisations that spend over £10,000 in England while opposing or endorsing party political activities. The organisation confirmed to Breitbart London that Show Racism the Red Card is not registered. At the time of publication we have received no response from SRTRC as to their spending on anti-UKIP campaigning.

UKIP candidate Gawain Towler told Breitbart London: “No-one has a problem with fighting racism on the terraces, and SRTRC has had significant success in its campaign which is to be applauded. However when the taxpayer is funding partisan political activity during an election campaign, then clear rules have been breached. Today, it is clear that the group has gone way beyond its remit, and in doing do undermines the good it has done in the past.”

SRTRC lists a number of governmental bodies, quangos and other groups as “Friends and Sponsors”, including several local councils and trades unions. It also lists among its friends far-left groups such as Hope Not Hate and Unite Against Fascism, whose members have been accused of behaving violently towards UKIP supporters.

Recent messages on the group’s Twitter feed also indicate a strong anti-UKIP bias that crosses the line from simply opposing racism to actively criticising the party’s immigration policy and suggesting that the party is itself racist. Here are some examples from the last month:

As well as opposing the activities of UKIP, speakers from Show Racism the Red Card have also attended far left events, including various meetings of the so-called “People’s Assembly”, an umbrella group of hard left organisations actively opposing the UK government’s policy of spending cuts. Representatives have attended People’s Assembly events in Manchester and South Tyneside.

Questions are now being raised about why – given its strong opposition to Britain’s fourth largest political party and its links with the far left – Show Racism the Red Card deserves taxpayer funding.

The full list of local authorities and other organisations that admitted to giving money to the group is: Bury Council, Sport Wales, Vale of Glamorgan Council, Plymouth City Council, Islington Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, Gateshead Council, North Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Council, Inverclyde Council, Sunderland City Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, The Scottish Qualification Authority, Essex County Council, the Welsh Government, Derby City Council, Redcar & Cleveland Council, and Buckinghamshire County Council.

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