The Far-left activist group Momentum has announced the launch of Momentum Kids, an initiative designed to draw children into political activism with an eye on influencing politics for the next generation.
Dubbed “Tiny Trots” by Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, the group will launch with a kids’ programme at Momentum’s ‘The World Transformed’ fringe festival, running alongside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool next week.
Children will be able to attend campaigning workshops and story-telling sessions as part of the four-day arts and activism festival, designed to lend support to Jeremy Corbyn as he battles to remain the leader of the Labour Party.
It will then be rolled out across 150 local groups nationwide, providing crèches, breakfast clubs, and after-school childcare services for single parents who want to become politically active, as well as offering politically-charged activity sessions for children.
Promoting the event on their Facebook page, the group said: “Politics should be open to everyone, which is why we’re rolling out ‘Momentum Kids’, to give single parents and sole carers access to the co-operatively run child care they need to facilitate their political engagement, and to create spaces for the young to get involved in politics.”
Sasha Josette, one of the founders of Momentum Kids said: “It sounds like such a cliché when you say it out loud but it remains true, our kids are the next generation of people who can change the world.
“We don’t underestimate the contribution they can make. Let’s create a space for questioning, curious children where we can listen to them and give them a voice.”
The group has been promoting the initiative on Twitter using the hashtag #MomentumKids, but the hashtag has been hijacked by right wingers posting images of children in Communist countries forced to march in May Day parades and other propaganda.
This is not the first time concern has been raised in Europe over hard-left political groups for children. In August this year, footage emerged of German children attending a National Socialist youth camp in Sweden.
Resembling something out of a Nazi propaganda film – the boys neatly dressed in shorts and shirts, while the girls wore long skirts and had their hair braided – the children saluted the flag of the Sturmvogel, a German group dedicated to Nazi ideals and holocaust denial, before being dismissed for the day’s activities.