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Far-right Britain First deputy leader arrested at protest
Britain First bases propaganda video on completely made-up story about Muslims
(about 2 hours later)
The deputy leader of the far-right political party Britain First has been arrested, the party has said.
Far-right political party Britain First is facing ridicule after it based a propaganda video on a made-up story about Muslims that was disproved months ago.
Jayda Fransen was taking part in a demonstration outside the Egyptian Embassy in the Hyde Park area of West London.
A video re-posted on the group's Facebook page this Monday shows its uniformed activists visiting a cinema that was accused in July of being "Muslim only".
The protest was advertised as a counter-demonstration against an Islamist group protesting against the military regime in Egypt.
The story was debunked shortly after it was first reported, with police confirming they had received no complaints about an alleged incident in which men were supposedly turned away on the basis of their religion.
In a video of the incident posted on the party’s Facebook page, Ms Fransen can be seen using a megaphone to criticise the Islamist group, who are separated from the Britain First crowd by a line of police officers.
The cinema noted that some visitors may have been turned away from the cinema on the day in question for a more benign reason: because it had been full.
At one point she runs past the police line and is seen to be restrained and detained by police before being led into a police van.
In the video, Paul Golding, the group's leader, can be seen confronting the manager of the theatre and ranting about the incident that never happened.
The Metropolitan Police could not immediately confirm the arrest had taken place when contacted by the Independent. It is not clear from the video whether she is put under formal arrest.
A Vue spokesperson said: “Everyone is welcome at Vue. During peak times, holidays and celebrations Star City does get very busy and we unfortunately have to turn some customers away if our screens are up to capacity.
Britain First said she was “arrested for confronting [Islamist preacher] Anjem Choudary at Egyptian Embassy”. The incident is believed to have taken place on 28 November.
"This has no bearing on the religious and cultural backgrounds of our customers and everyone is welcome at Vue at Star City."
Earlier this year party leader Paul Golding told the BBC’s Daily Politics programme that he was “entirely proud” of having been arrested a number of times.
The group pulled the stunt days before it claimed its deputy leader was arrested at a protest. Jayda Fransen was taking part in a demonstration outside the Egyptian Embassy in the Hyde Park area of West London.
“If you stand up for our people in our own country you will face the politically correct pressure from the state,” he told the programme. Jayda Fransen being restrained by a police officer
The Metropolitan Police could not immediately confirm the arrest had taken place when contacted by the Independent.
Ms Fransen was the party’s candidate in the recent Rochester and Strood by-election, where she gained 56 votes out of the total 40,065 cast.
The party claimed victory after the results of the by-election were announced, arguing that they had told people to vote for UKIP, who won.
“Britain First had no campaign, no leaflets going out, sabotaged street activities, police brutality, hostile media coverage, and we told everyone to vote UKIP!” the group posted on Facebook after the results were announced. Jayda Fransen being led into a police van
Britain First is most well-known for its Facebook page, which has attracted over half a million likes and churns out viral memes with right-wing populist themes.
It was formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP).
Party members describe themselves as a “street defence organisation” and wear matching branded uniforms when gathering in public.
Last month the group was accused of "hijacking" the remembrance symbol of the poppy to drive web traffic to its Facebook page.
In October it threatened "direct action" against journalists at The Sun and the Daily Mail after beign accused of exploiting actress Lynda Bellingham's death.
The founder of Britain First, Jim Dowson, resigned earlier this year complaining that the group was being “being overrun with racists and extremists”.
