Jim Dowson

Jim Dowson
Born James Dowson
September 1964 (age 54)
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Occupation Founder of Britain First, public relations for Knights Templar International
Children Nine
Relatives Marion Thomas (sister-in-law)

James "Jim" Dowson (born September 1964)[1] is a far-right political activist from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.[2] Dowson has been active across the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. He has been described by The Times as "the invisible man of Britain's far right".[3]

After joining and falling out with the Orange Order, Dowson was active as an anti-abortion militant. He joined the far-right British National Party and was in charge of the party's financial affairs. He later helped found and worked as the main source of funding for Britain First from which he resigned in 2014. He was arrested for his participation in the Belfast City Hall flag protests in late-2012 and was also involved in the Protestant Coalition, a party formed by some involved in the protests. Subsequently, he has also been active in the anti-immigrant Knights Templar International and supporting US president Donald Trump in his 2016 election campaign.

Activities

Anti-abortion activism

Dowson was a Calvinist minister before entering politics.[4] He was for a time a member of the Orange Order and was associated with a controversial flute band accused of glorifying Michael Stone during parades.[5] Dowson subsequently fell out with the Orange Order after he was forced to leave the movement, even taking part in protests against it where he denounced the group as being filled with "atheists and boozers".[6]

He came to wider attention for his campaigning against abortion, establishing his own group, the UK Life League, in 1999 after meeting with the leaders of Youth Defence, a militant anti-abortion group active in the Republic of Ireland.[7] He courted controversy by setting up a website that published the personal details of sexual health workers, as well as encouraging supporters to bombard Paul Goggins with messages after the Northern Irish Health Secretary had mooted the possibility of relaxing Northern Ireland's tough anti-abortion laws.[5] When the Marie Stopes Clinic (a family planning clinic denounced by its critics as pro-abortion) opened in Belfast in 2012, Dowson took a leading role in the protests that followed.[6] Dowson has also stated that he worked as part of the anti-abortion movement in the United States and used much of what he learned there as part of his career in public relations.[8]

It has been reported that during his campaigns Dowson has picked up several criminal convictions, notably for breach of the peace in 1986, possession of a weapon and breach of the peace in 1991, and criminal damage in 1992.[7][9] Dowson has, however, denied all of these claims apart from the conviction for breach of the peace, which he insisted was for an incident in his youth.[8]

British National Party

Dowson joined the British National Party at an unspecified date and became a leading figure within the group, rising to take charge of the BNP's financial affairs.[4] He has claimed that in this role he raised £4 million for the party.[8] Dowson's financial role with the party began in late 2007.[10]

Having relocated to Ballygowan from Glasgow, Dowson set up a BNP call centre at the Carrowreagh Business Centre in Dundonald on the outskirts of Belfast. Dowson ran the centre under the name of Adlorr-ies.com Ltd, a Leicestershire-based company he had established.[11]

Dowson announced his departure from the BNP in 2010 and stated that he intended to start an anti-Islamic Christian group.[12] According to a report in the Daily Record, Dowson had also faced an allegation that he had groped a female BNP worker.[2]

Britain First

Dowson's involvement in Britain First, a far-right party led by the former BNP councillor Paul Golding, first came to light in 2012 when the English Defence League repudiated any connections to the group on the basis that Dowson was involved and they considered him financially untrustworthy.[10] In 2014, it was publicly revealed that Dowson was the main source of funding behind the group.[4] According to a report on the Channel 4 news programme, Dowson was the "ideological guru" of the group.[8] In fact, Dowson had been a founder of the group in 2010 but did not take a public role.[7] According to the anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate he had been the driving force behind the group's foundation and had used it to attack the BNP leader Nick Griffin, with whom he had had a bitter falling-out.[13]

Dowson announced his resignation from Britain First in July 2014 after the group, under a policy initiated by Golding, started launching "invasions" of mosques. Dowson described the initiative as "provocative and counterproductive" as well as "unacceptable and unchristian".[1] The story about the mosque attacks had been broken by Channel 4 on the same news programme that named Dowson as the group's leading figure.[8]

Northern Ireland

Dowson became a leading figure in the Belfast City Hall flag protests that broke out in late 2012 after Belfast City Council voted to only fly the Union Flag from Belfast City Hall on seventeen designated days a year rather than all the time as had previously been the practice. In March of the following year, Dowson was arrested for his part in the protests.[14] He was charged with encouraging or assisting offenders and five counts of taking part in an unnotified public procession due to his part in the protests.[15] At a subsequent court appearance Dowson and some of his co-defendants dressed in Islamic-style clothing.[2]

Dowson joined Willie Frazer at the 2013 LaMon Hotel press conference at which the Protestant Coalition, a political party launched on the back of the flag protests, was officially established.[16] He subsequently claimed that he left the party to Frazer and Rab McKee after a few months and bemoaned the failure of the group to make any impact on local politics.[8]

Eastern Europe and Knights Templar International

Dowson relocated to Budapest, Hungary, and has been observed in several eastern European countries with his latest venture, the Knights Templar International (KTI), along with the former BNP leader Nick Griffin and a Hungarian anti-abortion campaigner Imre Teglasy.[17] Dowson's last sighting, according to the Daily Mirror, was on the Turkey-Bulgaria border with the KTI supplying equipment to a vigilante paramilitary group, the Shipka Bulgarian National Movement, to hunt down asylum seekers.[18] Dowson was subsequently reported as having developed close links with Russian extremist Aleksandr Dugin, with Dugin aiding Dowson in the establishment of a Belgrade office for his internet activity in support of the "alt-right".[19]

In May 2017, it was reported by Hope not Hate that Dowson had been stopped from entering Hungary after the Hungarian Immigration Authority declared him an "undesirable individual" and barred him from entering the country in future. The move came as part of a wider crackdown by the Ministry of Interior on far-right individuals from across Europe using the country as their base, after Horst Mahler had been arrested trying to escape charges of Holocaust denial in Germany by entering Hungary.[20]

In May 2018 BBC News reported that Dowson has been fronting the Knights Templar International company[21] with Dowson's sister-in-law Marion Thomas named as one of its directors.[22][23]

Donald Trump

In July 2016, Dowson established the "Patriot News Agency" to help elect Donald Trump as President of the United States. Dowson described his strategy as spreading "devastating anti-Clinton, pro-Trump memes and sound bites into sections of the population too disillusioned with politics to have taken any notice of conventional campaigning." The site published an article alleging that Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton was involved in "Satanism, pedophilia," murder, and "other conspiracies."[24][25] According to the New York Times, postings on this site and others connected to Dowson, as well as Facebook pages "linked to him", were "viewed and shared hundreds of thousands of times".[24]

Scottish independence

Whilst attending a far-right conference in Budapest in March 2017, Dowson announced his support for Scottish independence, despite his earlier unionist stances. Dowson stated "England is stuffed, England is stuffed totally"[26] and advanced his belief that an independent Scotland "would protect us from the excesses of Muslim domination".[26]

Kosovo military equipment

In May 2018 the BBC reported that Knights Templar International had claimed to have supplied ballistics vests and communications equipment to Kosovo. It also reported that Dowson had told Kosovan TV that he had personally taken similarly described equipment there.[21]

Personal life

Dowson is the father of nine children.[1][25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dearden, Lizzie (28 July 2014). "Britain First founder Jim Dowson quits over mosque invasions and 'racists and extremists'". The Independent. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Stewart, Stephen (26 May 2014). "Exposed: Scottish BNP No.2 unmasked as man behind Britain First Defence Force's sickening invasion of mosques". Daily Record. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Kennedy, Dominic (26 November 2016). "Pastor became extremists' marketing mastermind". The Times. (Subscription required (help)).
  4. 1 2 3 Francis, Colin (20 June 2014). "Loyalist flag protest man Jim Dowson revealed as real leader of far-right organisation Britain First". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 McGuigan, Ciaran (6 May 2007). "Pro-life Zealot denies website intimidation of health workers". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. 1 2 McDonald, Henry (18 October 2012). "Anti-abortion activists protest at Belfast clinic opening". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 McLean, Marc (9 January 2013). "Scots ex-BNP chief seen fuelling Union flag riots in Belfast". Daily Record. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clarke, Liam (21 June 2014). "Jim Dowson laughs off TV claims he is the 'evil genius' of British fascism". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Campbell, Scott (15 May 2014). "Cumbernauld's shame; town's link with far-right extremist group". Cumbernauld Media. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  10. 1 2 Gable, Sonia (16 December 2012). "Britain First is money-making scam claims EDL". Searchlight magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  11. ↑ O'Dornan, David (14 June 2009). "BNP's secret Belfast lair". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Sommerlad, Nick (27 July 2014). "Britain First founder quits over mosque invasions which attract "racists and extremists"". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Hate Files: The British National Party". hopenothate.org.uk. Hope Not Hate. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  14. ↑ Staff writer (1 March 2013). "Jim Dowson arrested in union flag protest probe". BBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Staff writer (2 March 2013). "Scottish Union Flag protester Jim Dowson appears in Belfast court". The Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Staff writer (24 April 2013). "Flag protesters launch new 'anti-politics' unionist party". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Knights Templar International: Christian Knights or Fascist Front?". irbf.org.uk. International Report Bigotry and Fascism: IRBF - Say No to Hate!. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  18. ↑ McGivern, Mark (24 October 2016). "Britain First extremist filmed joining hate-filled vigilante group hunting down asylum seekers in Bulgaris". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  19. ↑ Townsend, Mark (11 February 2017). "Britain's extremist bloggers helping the 'alt-right' go global, report finds". The Observer. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  20. ↑ Collins, Matthew (24 May 2017). "Exclusive: Jim Dowson Expelled From Hungary". Hope not Hate. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  21. 1 2 Cox, Simon; Meisel, Anna (1 May 2018). "Is this Britain's most influential far-right activist?". BBC News. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  22. ↑ Andrews, Kieran (3 December 2017). "Revealed: Far-right Scot pioneered hate group's propaganda peddled by Donald Trump". The Sunday Post. Dundee, Scotland. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Knights Templar International Novus Ordo Militiae Ltd". companycheck.co.uk. Company Check. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  24. 1 2 McIntire, Mike (17 December 2016). "How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans". New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  25. 1 2 Rainey, Mark (27 December 2016). "Former Union Flag protestor credited with aiding Trump election victory". The News Letter. Belfast. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  26. 1 2 Evans, Tom (17 March 2017). "Britain First to BACK Sturgeon's bid for Scottish independence as England's 'STUFFED'". Daily Star. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
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