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Britain First's Inaugural 'News' Programme Contains Glaring Errors On Refugees And Immigration

5 Glaring Errors In Britain First's Inaugural 'News' Programme
George Bowden
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Britain First has published a slick faux news video as it seeks to push its anti-immigration agenda through its popular Facebook page.

The far-right group published the clip this week, with party leader Paul Golding presenting a close to 10 minute-long broadcast complete with swish moving graphics.

But despite the newly enhanced production values, many of the 'facts' used by Golding remain wildly inaccurate, crammed with personal opinion and vastly sensationalised.

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Leader Paul Golding presents an edition of the new 'Fox'-style bulletins

The clip, which can be viewed in full above, is reminiscent of conservative American media channels, such as Fox News.

Last year, a Fox News contributor declared parts of Birmingham to be a "no-go zone" for police, prompting a furious backtrack days later.

And in the same week, a Fox host demanded all Muslims must "kill radical Islamists".

But this style is effective. According to Pew, consistent conservatives in America are drawn to Fox's coverage, with almost half saying it is their primary source of information.

Britain First's latest move appears to emulate this success, allowing them to carefully select and present information to the group's 1.2 million Facebook followers without being troubled by traditional journalistic standards.

And their first broadcast provides a depressing glimpse into the way facts and figures can be manipulated - and misrepresented - to further their political objectives.

Even the group's first bulletin reveals five myths which are blown apart by actual facts...

5 Britain First Myths Busted
Refugees Target UK For Benefits(01 of05)
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Britain First's claim that the UK offers all asylum seekers 'generous benefits', and that this is why they're trying to get here, doesn't quite reflect the truth.

The Refugee Council found (PDF) that the presence of family and friends - as well as the belief that the UK upholds human rights - are leading factors in persuading people to claim asylum in Britain.

More recently, a parliamentary question from Lord Kinnock forced the government to issue a response completely lacking in hard evidence of a culture of "benefit tourism" among migrants.

Furthermore, according to the government, benefits received by those whose asylum requests are being considered amount to just £36.95 per week, or £5.28 per day, in addition to basic housing, often in shared accommodation. (credit:© Russell Hart / Alamy)
The British Press Is Left-Wing(02 of05)
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Paul Golding's contention that the British media is run by "lying, sneaky, deceiving, left-wing journalists," is undermined by the allegiance of newspapers at last year's general election.

The majority of Fleet Street declared its support for the Conservatives or for the continuation of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. Main daily newspaper endorsements in 2015 were:

  • The Times: Conservative Party
  • The Sun: Conservative Party
  • The Daily Mail: Conservative Party
  • The Daily Express: Ukip
  • The Independent: Conservative-Lib Dem coalition
  • The Daily Telegraph: Conservative Party
  • The Guardian: Labour Party
  • The Daily Mirror: Labour Party


In total, the Conservative Party was endorsed in full or in part by publications with a total daily circulation of 4,510,363 (ABC figures 2015). (credit:© Robert Gray / Alamy)
British People Are In A Minority In London(03 of05)
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Golding's claim that British people were in a minority in London is simply untrue, according to the government's statistics body.

People born in England were in the vast majority of London's population, the latest national census conducted in 2011 found.


London - usual residents - country of birth
  • England: 61.1%
  • India: 3.2%
  • Poland: 1.9%
London - usual residents - ethnic group
  • White: British: 44.9%
  • White: other White: 12.6%
  • Black: African/Caribbean/Black British: 7%


The ONS also found that White British people were the biggest single racial group in the capital. (credit:© Kumar Sriskandan / Alamy)
Westminster Passes Fewer UK Laws Than Brussels(04 of05)
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Golding's claim that "45%...no...85%" of UK laws are made in Brussels and not the UK is borne out of a semantic debate - and is wrong whichever way you look at it.

The European Union issues regulations which do constitute laws in our legal system and these apply to all member states.

The volume of regulations, for example, means that the proportion of laws made in Brussels which apply in the UK is disputed - but Full Fact says up to 50% can be attributed to the EU well below Golding's 85%.

Nonetheless, in terms of importance, law around Mental Health or Foreign Aid may not be seen as equal to regulation around, say, renting rooms via AirBnB. (credit:Terry Mathews / Alamy)
Sweden Has "No-Go Zones"(05 of05)
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While police do appear to encounter difficulty in some areas of Sweden, it is not entirely accurate to claim that the country has "no-go zones" unsafe for non-Muslim residents to enter.

Across Europe, many immigrant Muslims live in impoverished, isolated, poorly-designed housing, which can appear to be 'closed off' to outsiders - leading to the lazy conclusion this presents a "no-go zone".

In Sweden, 55 areas present consistent challenges to police attempting to maintain law and order, though they are not entirely "no-go zones" for police officers. Many of the challenges relate to failures to gather evidence and the consistent, reliable reporting of crime, Svenska Dagbladet reported.

"In most cases, police are able to walk freely without fear of being attacked," a translated section of a report into the issue by Swedish National Criminal Intelligence reads. (credit:Qrt / Alamy)

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