Racial Preservation Society
Encyclopedia
The Racial Preservation Society was a right-wing pressure group opposed to immigration
and in favour of white nationalism, national preservation and protection in the United Kingdom
in the 1960s.
, the British National Party and the National Socialist Movement organised at the time much of the opposition to immigration in Britain during the early 1960s was locally based, centering on groups such as the Southall Residents Association and the Birmingham Immigration Control Association, groups that sought to influence local policy makers within the Conservative
and Labour parties
. Attempts were made to co-ordinate the work of like-minded groups across Britain although many of these initiatives, such as Tom Finney's English Rights Association or Tom Jones' Argus British Rights Association did not have the organisational basis required to forge any meaningful unity. It was against this backdrop that the RPS first emerged.
in 1965 by Robin Beauclaire and Jimmy Doyle. With this group covering the South a second group was established covering the Midlands utilising the existing structure of the Argus British Rights Association. Ray Bamford, the chaplain to the BNP's youth movement and a well-known writer on racial issues for far-right magazines in both Britain and Germany
, was chosen to link the two groups as vice-chairman of each. A veteran of the Scottish Conservative Party and a member of a variety of right-wing clubs and societies, Bamford was prized for his organisational capabilities and his list of contacts.
Acting as a co-ordinating body for local groups, whilst allowing its affiliates some degree of independence, the RPS, backed by Bamford's wealth, produced copious amounts of anti-immigration newsletters, ranging from the RPS News to regional titles such as the Sussex News and Midlands News. A number of its leading members, including Doyle, Ted Budden
and Alan Hancock
, shared a background as members of the British Union of Fascists
before the Second World War.
's Fraudulent Conspiracy, a work dealing with supposed conspiracy to control the world between international finance and Judaism
. As well as publishing a number of books and pamphlets, the RPS also produced a regular newspaper, The Southern News, generally filled with horror stories about immigrants. Members of the Conservative Party
were amongst early RPS activists.
in early 1966 with a request that it should merge with his Greater Britain Movement
and the BNP. The request was immediately rejected by the RPS as the group had no desire to surrender its separate existence. Despite this leading member Dr David Brown did agree to work with the BNP under the new name of the National Democratic Party
later that year. This plan broke down quickly however as Bean, who had been convinced of the need for unity, was uncomfortable at the thought of banning the GBM altogether whilst he also rejected Brown's insistence on being sole leader. Meanwhile the elements of the RPS under Jimmy Doyle also withdrew from merger discussions as Doyle had a personality clash with leading BNP men Bean and Philip Maxwell.
By this time Beauclaire had become associated with the BNP and when this group opened negotiations with the League of Empire Loyalists
in late 1966 Beauclaire made it clear that he would bring a substantial group of RPS members into any new initiative. Beauclair and his followers made up a significant proportion of the 2,500 members that the new group, to be known as the National Front
, claimed when it was brought into existence on 7 February 1967. By this time the RPS brought both international contacts and a number of rich backers to the NF, as well as its extensive experience of publishing. However despite effectively throwing its lot in with the NF the RPS continued its independent existence.
when five members were brought up on charges of incitement to racial hatred for distributing the Society's Southern News. The case, which had initially been brought in 1967, saw the creation of a Free Speech Defence Committee which sought to raise funds for the "five British patriots" accused. However, they managed to argue that the articles attacking "race mixing" were intended only to educate politicians on the dangers of immigration and the case was dismissed. The articles for which the case was brought had been purposefully written in non-inflammatory prose, making prosecution difficult to ensure. Amongst those to testify on behalf of the defendants was Robert Gayre
, the founder of the Mankind Quarterly
. The case was a blow to the recently passed Race Relations Act 1968
under the terms of which the RPS were the first group to be charged as it exposed the loopholes in the legislation. The following issue of the Southern News celebrated the win by adding the tagline "The Paper the Government Tried to Suppress to its masthead.
By the 1970s when the RPS was controlled by members of the Northern League who used it to publish the journal Race and Nation, with Budden, Denis Pirie
and Alan and Anthony Hancock
involved in this initiative. During the struggle between John Tyndall
and John Kingsley Read
for the leadership of the NF and the subsequent emergence of the National Party
the RPS returned to some prominence as Tyndall heavily featured the racial theories that the RPS was publishing in his magazine Spearhead
, reasoning that the populists leading the NP had a reputation for being "soft" on the race issue amongst NF activists.
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and in favour of white nationalism, national preservation and protection in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1960s.
Background
Although parties such as the Union MovementUnion Movement
The Union Movement was a right-wing political party founded in Britain by Oswald Mosley. Where Mosley had previously been associated with a peculiarly British form of fascism, the Union Movement attempted to redefine the concept by stressing the importance of developing a European nationalism...
, the British National Party and the National Socialist Movement organised at the time much of the opposition to immigration in Britain during the early 1960s was locally based, centering on groups such as the Southall Residents Association and the Birmingham Immigration Control Association, groups that sought to influence local policy makers within the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Labour parties
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. Attempts were made to co-ordinate the work of like-minded groups across Britain although many of these initiatives, such as Tom Finney's English Rights Association or Tom Jones' Argus British Rights Association did not have the organisational basis required to forge any meaningful unity. It was against this backdrop that the RPS first emerged.
Formation
The first arm of the RPS was founded in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
in 1965 by Robin Beauclaire and Jimmy Doyle. With this group covering the South a second group was established covering the Midlands utilising the existing structure of the Argus British Rights Association. Ray Bamford, the chaplain to the BNP's youth movement and a well-known writer on racial issues for far-right magazines in both Britain and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, was chosen to link the two groups as vice-chairman of each. A veteran of the Scottish Conservative Party and a member of a variety of right-wing clubs and societies, Bamford was prized for his organisational capabilities and his list of contacts.
Acting as a co-ordinating body for local groups, whilst allowing its affiliates some degree of independence, the RPS, backed by Bamford's wealth, produced copious amounts of anti-immigration newsletters, ranging from the RPS News to regional titles such as the Sussex News and Midlands News. A number of its leading members, including Doyle, Ted Budden
Ted Budden
Edward Budden was a veteran of the far right in the United Kingdom who was well known in such circles for his satirical columns that appeared in a number of publications down the years....
and Alan Hancock
Alan Hancock
Alan Vivien Hancock was one of the early leaders of the Racial Preservation Society . He was formerly a member of the British Union of Fascists which was formed in 1932 by ex-Labour government minister Sir Oswald Mosley and was a union of several small, extreme nationalist parties...
, shared a background as members of the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
before the Second World War.
Activities
The movement functioned as a propaganda group without branching into politics (although individual members were free to join political parties) and provided extensive lists of conspiratorial books and pamphlets for sale. Of these the most extreme was Colin JordanColin Jordan
John Colin Campbell Jordan was a leading figure in postwar Neo-Nazism in Britain. In the far-right nationalist circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly 'Nazi' inclination in his open use of the styles and symbols of the Third Reich.Through organisations such as the National...
's Fraudulent Conspiracy, a work dealing with supposed conspiracy to control the world between international finance and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. As well as publishing a number of books and pamphlets, the RPS also produced a regular newspaper, The Southern News, generally filled with horror stories about immigrants. Members of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
were amongst early RPS activists.
Merger attempts
A growing force, the RPS was approached by John TyndallJohn Tyndall (politician)
John Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...
in early 1966 with a request that it should merge with his Greater Britain Movement
Greater Britain Movement
The Greater Britain Movement was a British far right political group formed by John Tyndall in 1964 after he split from Colin Jordan's National Socialist Movement...
and the BNP. The request was immediately rejected by the RPS as the group had no desire to surrender its separate existence. Despite this leading member Dr David Brown did agree to work with the BNP under the new name of the National Democratic Party
National Democratic Party (UK, 1966)
The National Democratic Party was a right wing political party that operated in the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s. The NDP sought to poisition itself as an early rival to the National Front although ultimately it failed to challenege the position of this group.-Background:The NDP had...
later that year. This plan broke down quickly however as Bean, who had been convinced of the need for unity, was uncomfortable at the thought of banning the GBM altogether whilst he also rejected Brown's insistence on being sole leader. Meanwhile the elements of the RPS under Jimmy Doyle also withdrew from merger discussions as Doyle had a personality clash with leading BNP men Bean and Philip Maxwell.
By this time Beauclaire had become associated with the BNP and when this group opened negotiations with the League of Empire Loyalists
League of Empire Loyalists
The League of Empire Loyalists was a British pressure group , established in 1954, which campaigned against the dissolution of the British Empire. The League was a small group of current or former members of the Conservative Party led by Arthur K...
in late 1966 Beauclaire made it clear that he would bring a substantial group of RPS members into any new initiative. Beauclair and his followers made up a significant proportion of the 2,500 members that the new group, to be known as the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
, claimed when it was brought into existence on 7 February 1967. By this time the RPS brought both international contacts and a number of rich backers to the NF, as well as its extensive experience of publishing. However despite effectively throwing its lot in with the NF the RPS continued its independent existence.
Later years
The group was prosecuted under the Race Relations Act in 1968 at Lewes Crown CourtLewes Crown Court
Lewes Crown Court is a Crown Court in Lewes, East Sussex, England. It is housed in the Lewes Combined Court Centre which it shares with Lewes County Court in the Lewes High Street...
when five members were brought up on charges of incitement to racial hatred for distributing the Society's Southern News. The case, which had initially been brought in 1967, saw the creation of a Free Speech Defence Committee which sought to raise funds for the "five British patriots" accused. However, they managed to argue that the articles attacking "race mixing" were intended only to educate politicians on the dangers of immigration and the case was dismissed. The articles for which the case was brought had been purposefully written in non-inflammatory prose, making prosecution difficult to ensure. Amongst those to testify on behalf of the defendants was Robert Gayre
Robert Gayre
George Robert Gayre of Gayre and Nigg was a Scottish anthropologist who founded Mankind Quarterly. An expert on heraldry, he also founded The Armorial, and produced many books on this subject....
, the founder of the Mankind Quarterly
Mankind Quarterly
The Mankind Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to physical and cultural anthropology and is currently published by the Council for Social and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. It contains articles on human evolution, intelligence, ethnography, linguistics, mythology,...
. The case was a blow to the recently passed Race Relations Act 1968
Race Relations Act 1968
The Race Relations Act 1968 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom making it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins. It also created the Community Relations Commission to promote 'harmonious...
under the terms of which the RPS were the first group to be charged as it exposed the loopholes in the legislation. The following issue of the Southern News celebrated the win by adding the tagline "The Paper the Government Tried to Suppress to its masthead.
By the 1970s when the RPS was controlled by members of the Northern League who used it to publish the journal Race and Nation, with Budden, Denis Pirie
Denis Pirie
Denis Pirie is a veteran of the British far right scene who took a leading role in a number of movements.He began his career as a member of the 1960s British National Party and was appointed a member of the party's national council not long after its foundation...
and Alan and Anthony Hancock
Anthony Hancock (publisher)
Anthony Hancock has been a member of various far right groups in the United Kingdom and, as a publisher, has produced literature for almost all of Britain's right-wing extremists....
involved in this initiative. During the struggle between John Tyndall
John Tyndall (politician)
John Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...
and John Kingsley Read
John Kingsley Read
John Kingsley Read was chairman of the British National Front from 1974 to 1976 and a founder of the National Party.A former member of the Conservative Party and chairman of the Blackburn Young Conservatives, Read left to join the NF in 1973 having addressed a rally against the arrival of Ugandan...
for the leadership of the NF and the subsequent emergence of the National Party
National Party (UK, 1976)
The National Party was a short-lived British far right political party formed on 6 January 1976 and which dissolved before the 1979 general election...
the RPS returned to some prominence as Tyndall heavily featured the racial theories that the RPS was publishing in his magazine Spearhead
Spearhead (magazine)
Spearhead was a British far right-wing magazine edited by John Tyndall until his death in July 2005. Founded in 1964 by Tyndall, it was used to voice his grievances against the state of the United Kingdom...
, reasoning that the populists leading the NP had a reputation for being "soft" on the race issue amongst NF activists.