International Third Position | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Roberto Fiore |
| Split from | British National Front |
| Headquarters | Third Position, BCM ITP, London WC1N 3XX |
| Ideology | Third Position Neo-fascism Antisemitism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| International affiliation | European National Front |
International Third Position (ITP) was aneo-fascist organisation formed by the breakaway faction of theBritish National Front,[1] led byRoberto Fiore, an ex-member of the Italianfar-right movementThird Position.[2]
Though a key formulator of the Third Positionist platform,Nick Griffin left in 1990.[2] After about four years he joined theBritish National Party (BNP), where he later succeeded the BNP founderJohn Tyndall. Other leading figures in the group on its foundation wereRoberto Fiore andDerek Holland.[3] Jason Wilcock would subsequently emerge as the group's leader, although in 2001 he was reported in theDaily Mirror as having played a leading role in instigating theriots in Oldham.[4]
Troy Southgate, as well as the majority of ITP supporters, split from the organisation in September 1992 after accusing Fiore and Holland of ideological hypocrisy and swindling members out of their life savings to prop up the group's failed rural experiment in northern France. This included the departure of several local ITP publications, includingThe Kent Crusader,[citation needed]Surrey Action, andEastern Legion. Southgate then founded the English Nationalist Movement (ENM) and during this time edited magazines likeThe Crusader andThe English Alternative. The ENM had strong units in the Burnley, Bradford and south-east Kent areas[citation needed].
The ITP changed its name to England First in 2001 and has since become a part of theEuropean National Front with theSpanishFalange, ItalianForza Nuova,RomanianNoua Dreaptă,PolishNational Revival of Poland and others.
An ITP/ENF gathering in centralLondon in April 2005 drew 150 supporters. Overall membership is estimated bySearchlight magazine to be somewhat lower than this, although the ITP maintains a relatively strong publishing presence as well as its network of international contacts. The modern party is much less critical ofIslam than the rest of the British far-right, and claims that the campaign against Islam is mostly driven by Jewish interests. The party remains strongly anti-Semitic.[2]
ITP ideology is a mix of leftist and rightist ideas—e.g., environmentalism, wealth redistribution—with a racialist slant.[1] Initially the ITP distanced itself from traditionalFascism andNazism, promoting 'racial separatism' rather than cruderacism. The International Third Position operated more as an elitecadre than a mass movement. Promoting a "back to the land" ideal of rural traditionalism, the group even purchased Los Pedriches, a remoteSpanish village in 1997. This initiative was funded through a charity called Saint Michael the Archangel. Purporting to be an apoliticalRoman Catholic charity, the group, which had several charity shops in the UK, was exposed as an ITP front in the press in 1999.[5]
Publications supporting the ITP in the UK areFinal Conflict (ISSN 1463-614X),The Voice of St George,Heritage and Destiny andCandour.
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