Far right and Islamophobia

The organisation encourages voters to support alternatives to far-right extremist movements; it also publishes allegations of violent activities by anti-Muslim organisations^[24][25] such as the English Defence League. It presented a 90,000-person petition to the European Parliament protesting against the election of Nick Griffin as an MEP.^[26]

Following the murder of Jo Cox, Hope not Hate launched a nationwide #MoreInCommon campaign, with the blessing of the MP's family, hosting meetings across the UK which focused on healing divisions which were caused by the EU Referendum, culminating in 85+ events on the weekend of 3/4 September 2016.^[27] In December 2016 The Guardian newspaper joined a Hope not Hate training workshop, revealing the work which was undertaken by its community workers on the doorsteps in south Wales.^[28]

The organisation has increasingly focused on community-based campaigning, with a particular focus on building what it calls "community resilience"^[29] and focusing more on women voters.^[30] It has launched initiatives in support of British foods, Hate Crime Awareness Week, and reported extensively on the activities of the anti-Muslim counterjihad movement of Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, and bloggers such as "Fjordman".^[31][32] It linked hundreds of EDL and National Front supporters in this network with support for the Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik.^[33]

In 2012, the group published original research which looked at the attitudes of voters towards far-right political parties in the UK, which concluded that nearly half of those who were polled by a Populus Ltd survey supported the creation of an English nationalist, anti-Muslim political party.^[34][35] Nick Lowles claimed in 2012 that politicians, including the Labour Party, need to address the way they talk about immigration and move away from encouraging "hate speech".^[36] Liz Fekete, of the Institute of Race Relations, has said that Lowles has not taken a hard enough line in rejecting narratives that portray Muslim men as disproportionately responsible for child sexual grooming.^[37]

The organisation updated its research in February 2016, noting that: "Respondents to the new Fear and HOPE 2016 survey were much more positive about personal and national progress, more economically secure, and less anxious about identity change." A further poll, one week after the Brexit vote, revealed that nearly two-thirds (63%) of those polled believed Britain was "more divided as a result of the Referendum vote and more people think there are more tensions between communities than when asked the same question in February".

Following a 26,000 signature petition which Hope not Hate handed to the UK Home Secretary, on 26 June 2013, the US-based anti-Muslim bloggers Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller were banned from entering the UK.^[38] Geller and Spencer had been due to speak at an English Defence League march in Woolwich, south London, where Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered. Home Secretary Theresa May informed Spencer and Geller that their presence in the UK would "not be conducive to the public good".^[39] The decision, which they cannot appeal, may be reviewed in between three and five years.^[40] Similarly, Hope Not Hate condemned an EDL solidarity demonstration outside the Israeli embassy to which they had invited an American rabbi, with Lowles writing "While many in the Jewish community have understandable concerns about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, it is important to remember that the EDL are not our friends".^[41]

In 2013, Hope not Hate was one of the founding organisations of an anti-child sexual exploitation initiative called CAASE (Community Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation), featuring many Muslim and Christian organisations, victim support groups, survivors organisations, and local community networks. The network was founded in response to multiple "grooming" cases which were reported by the British press.^[42]

In October 2021, the organisation revealed that a Conservative Party borough councillor and activist Tim Wills in Worthing was also a supporter of the far-right and racist organisation Patriotic Alternative. The party announced that "Cllr Tim Wills has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation".^[43]

In 2023 HNH has uncovered allegedly inflammatory historic social media posts made by Tory London mayoral candidate, Susan Hall.^[44]

Islamic extremism

In November 2013, the organisation unveiled research into the al-Muhajiroun Islamic extremist network: in a 60-page report, Gateway to Terror, authored by Nick Lowles and Joe Mulhall, it alleged that with its partner networks al-Muhajiroun had sent up to 300 fighters to Syria, linked a further seventy individuals to terrorism offences or suicide bombings, plus proof of what it said was links to the Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya, connections to al-Shabaab and a plot by French security services to kill Abu Hamza in the late 1990s.^[45][46][47]

On 16 October 2014, the organisation launched a new blog, Generation Jihad, which it said would "be a forum to monitor, expose and understand militant jihadism and extreme Islamism".^[48]

Once Anjem Choudary was found guilty of inviting support for the Islamic State in August 2016, Hope not Hate updated its research and revealed that Choudary and his extremist groups had motivated at least a hundred people from Britain to pursue terrorism.^[49] More recently, it has also focused on Islamist extremists^[10] and issues of communal division, such as grooming.^[50][51][52]

Brexit

In 2013, the organisation initiated a nationwide consultation among its supporters about the UK Independence Party (UKIP).^[53] The move attracted considerable criticism from some on the right.^[54] It went on to campaign vociferously against UKIP during the run-up to the 2014 European elections.^[55]

On 20 March 2019, Catherine Blaiklock, founder of the Brexit Party, resigned from the party after The Guardian enquired about deleted anti-Muslim messages from her Twitter account from before she took on the role.^[56] Blaiklock's deleted tweets were recovered by Hope not Hate and passed to The Guardian.^[56]

In November 2019, Hope not Hate said "An election has just been called for the 12th December 2019 and our priority is clear – we're going to be taking on Nigel Farage and his Brexit party, to make sure they don't win any seats."^[57] The organisation funded research, along with Best for Britain, used to encourage pro-Remain tactical voting.^[58]

Antisemitism

Hope not Hate have commented regularly on antisemitism allegations in the Labour Party. In June 2019, the group condemned Lisa Forbes after she was found to have 'liked' a post on Facebook saying that Theresa May had a "Zionist Slave Master's agenda".^[59] In July 2019, Lowles said that there had been "an appalling lack of understanding of the hurt and fear felt by Jewish party members and the Jewish community".^[60] He also said that "the leadership should start listening to people like the Jewish Labour Movement and bringing forward substantial organisational and cultural change."^[61] In November 2019, Lowles was reported to have written to every member of Labour's National Executive Committee, urging them to bar suspended MP Chris Williamson from defending his seat at the following month's general election and to expel him from the party.^[62]

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate

Hope not Hate has provided analysis of anti-LGBTQ+ hate movements, and has described Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull as "a leading voice in the antitrans movement" who has "increasingly found support from and an overlap in views with the far right."^[63][64]