Britain’s establishment media repeated the crowing of the George Soros-backed Hope Not Hate group today following a protracted legal battle between the hard-left organisation and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
Hope Not Hate — which has previously received funding from the European Commission as well as the Open Society Foundations — raised cash from its donors to sue Mr. Farage after he claimed the group backed “violent means”. Mr. Farage said after an agreement with the group that he was “happy to acknowledge that Hope Not Hate does not tolerate or pursue violent or undemocratic behaviour”.
But the group chalked this up as a “victory” despite having to pay out thousands in legal costs for Mr. Farage, as well as failing to receive an apology, or an undertaking they demanded from the British courts.
In a statement following Hope Not Hate’s attempted victory lap, Mr. Farage said: “I am very surprised at Hope not Hate’s announcement today that they have won their legal case against me. Some victory!
“Their statement today is thoroughly disingenuous. It is the case that we’ve now resolved our dispute and I am perfectly happy to accept that the organisation doesn’t pursue violent or undemocratic means. But the fact is that a number of individuals claiming to support them have in the past behaved violently and sought to intimidate and disrupt lawful political meetings.
“This is a case Hope not Hate should never have brought and which has been a complete waste of their donors’ money. Despite them demanding up to £100,000 in damages I have not paid them a penny; they demanded an apology that I have not given; and they demanded an undertaking to the Court which they did not get. In addition, they have been forced to pay me thousands in costs, on top of the tens of thousands they will have had to pay for their own legal fees.”
Hope Not Hate is known for attacking Muslims who oppose Sharia law, as well as exaggerating “hate crimes” in a report by a factor of 3000 per cent. The group — which frequently attempts to influence British elections despite having some of its funding come from abroad — recently threatened to involve itself in the U.S. political debate.
The group has been described as “Orwellian bigots” by leading Muslim reformer Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, while one of the group’s most senior activists once described their work as intentionally “dirty, underhand, low down, unscrupulous”.
Nick Lowles, the head of the organisation, told Breitbart London: “Farage is clutching at straws. He has retracted his statement and acknowledged we are not the violent organisation he claimed. He has made a promise to the court not to repeat it.”
Lowles further claimed that Farage was “creating a smokescreen about costs”, though when pressed, admitted Hope Not Hate indeed ended up paying nearly ten thousand pounds, which law firm Carter Ruck described in a statement as going “towards Mr. Farage’s costs”.
The statement goes further, stating, “indeed they are required to do so by the Court Order. By contrast, Mr. Farage has not agreed, or been ordered, to pay a single penny in costs, let alone damages, to Hope Not Hate”.