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HomeUK NewsBrexit

Pro-Tory activists launch another hard-right Momentum-clone, and get absolutely mangled immediately

Tom D. Rogers
By Tom D. Rogers

You would have thought that, after the utter debacle that was the now-defunct Tory Youth movement, Activate, the UK’s political right would have learnt the lesson that there simply isn’t an appetite amongst Britain’s younger generations for a hard-right political movement built on the pro-privatisation, pro-corporate policies of the status quo.

Yet, with the launch of the UK sect of Turning Point this week, right-wing pro-Tory activists appear to have finally regained enough confidence to have another try.

Unfortunately for them, however, the launch of the right-wing organisation has, unsurprisingly, encountered perhaps an even larger amount of ridicule and mocking from a left-dominated UK social media then their now deceased hard-right forebear, Activate.

The Turning Point student movement initially formed in the United States, where, in around six years, they have gained a not insubstantial social media presence by promoting right-wing Libertarian policies of Freedom, Free Markets, and Limited Government, and pushing the Alt-Right anti-immigrant, anti-tolerance narrative.

And Turning Point UK is Chaired by the Donald Trump-supporting Brexiteer, George Farmer – himself a former member of the notoriously elitist Oxford University Bullingdon Club and the son of former Conservative Party Treasurer, Lord Farmer.

On the weekend – and backed by the likes of former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg and the former Tory Minister Priti Patel – Turning Point UK launched their official Twitter account with great fanfare and a moderately well-produced welcome video setting out their hard-right vision.

The video begins promisingly, factually stating that “WE ARE TURNING POINT UK”, before moving on to describe what the organisation stands for, stating:

“We are fighting for:

  • Free Markets
  • Free Speech
  • Free Nations
  • Free People
  • Limited Government
  • Personal Responsibility
  • Common Sense”

[EVOLVE TRANSLATION:

  1. For ‘Free Markets‘ read ‘Mass deregulation and the complete eradication of workers’ rights and environmental standards’
  2. For ‘Free Speech‘ read ‘The right to be overtly racist, sexist, h*mophobic, and generally awful to other people because I’m emotionally repressed and like to take my anger out on other people’
  3. For ‘Free Nations‘ read ‘The right to colonise invade impose freedom and democracy on any country for any reason we see fit and definitely not just to steal their resources’
  4. For ‘Free People‘ read ‘The right to allow billionaires and huge corporations to avoid as much tax as possible’
  5. For ‘Limited Government‘ read ‘Mass Privatisation of essential public services like the NHS and the Police’
  6. For ‘Personal Responsibility‘ read ‘The right to tell poor people that they’re poor because they haven’t worked hard enough and don’t deserve essential things like a house and food’
  7. For ‘Common Sense‘ read ‘We think anyone who doesn’t share exactly the same hard-right ideology as us is a stupid cuckoid soyboy snowflake’]

The video then goes on to list precisely what they intend to fight against – things such as “Socialism”, “Identity Politics”, and…”Racism” (yes, really).

However, the newly formed right-wing student organisation also appear to have encountered a particularly ironic blind spot, proudly announcing they also intend to fight against ‘Collectivism’ – meaning that Turning Point UK are literally an organisation of people fighting against the organisation of people.

And in another eyebrow-raising oddity, the self-avowed cooperation-shy right-wing group also proudly announced that they will fight against both the “Alt-Right” and the “Alt-Left” – a particularly strange claim given the fact that the group’s Chairman appears to be rather good mates with perhaps the most recognisable face of the Alt-Right – the Sheffield-born InfoWars conspiracy theorist, Paul Joseph Watson.

However, just minutes after Turning Point UK proudly announced themselves to the world, numerous spoof Turning Point Twitter accounts began popping up – to the fury and apparent bafflement of the clearly technologically naive Official right-wing account’s admins:

https://twitter.com/Neeerts/status/1091824686575640579

With the Official Turning Point UK Twitter account still not Verified, it is virtually impossible to tell the spoof accounts apart – and, given that there are now around 50 different branches purporting to be “official” accounts from around the country (including London, Glasgow, and even Craggy Island) pushing out tweets satirising the group’s ideology, it surely won’t be long before the incredibly ill-prepared right-wingers begin to fade away into ignominy in the same style (or astonishing lack thereof) as their hard-right predecessors, Activate:

https://twitter.com/TurningPointUK2/status/1092180954163171328

https://twitter.com/AKA_Porlek/status/1092450131763449858

https://twitter.com/Neeerts/status/1091824686575640579

https://twitter.com/MikeStuchbery_/status/1092342665239248897

https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1092150658000670721

And the left’s impressive dedication to ridiculing the newly formed right-wing organisation didn’t end there, with an entire spoof Turning Point website also having been recently set up:

Turning Point UK Spoof Website 1

Turning Point UK Spoof Website 3

Turning Point UK Spoof Website 2

Turning Point UK Spoof Website 4

Despite the astonishingly embarrassing farce, one ardent right-winger, Michael Heaver, has attempted to put a brave face on things, inventively claiming that “lefty heads are already exploding” as a result of the launch of Turning Point UK.

Exploding with laughter, perhaps.

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