Brillo Mag Platforms White Supremacist

With the landmark defamation ruling and its costs still fresh in the memory - the damage could well be over £500,000 - the Australian offshoot of increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine is in no need of further controversy. But it has chased it anyway, as an article in the latest edition shows. It’s written by an actual neo-Nazi supporter.

The Spectator's boss ...

... and the latest recruit

Under the appropriately-titled category heading “Flat White”, readers are introduced to a new writer. “Lauren Southern: keep the theatre of cancel culture off the Australian political stage” tells the headline. That’s an interesting name. The same name, in fact, as an infamous far-right shit-stirrer who has been banned from the UK.

Jonathan Portes put the obvious question. “I see [Andrew Neil]’s [Spectator Australia] is giving a white supremacist who was barred from entering the UK a column to complain about ‘cancel culture’ … Genuine Q. How do you get ‘cancelled’ by [Fraser Nelson] / [Andrew Neil]’s Spectator? Violent racism? No. Anti-semitism? No. Advocate the ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory? No. Anti-Muslim bigotry/Islamophobia? No”.

Dawn Foster observed “This line in Lauren Southern’s Spectator piece proves that ‘cancel culture’ really is absolutely non-existent, and these ‘free speech warriors’ are just discussing being criticised”. It is yet another example of what I call Olbermann’s Dictum - “The right exists in a perpetual state of victimhood”. And there was more.

Ms Southern was asked “do you think saying that immigrants, Islam and baby boomers screwed an entire generation contributes to an environment where people are increasingly vicious to each other?” Another observer noted “Lauren Southern, the white supremacist who directly inspired a terrorist to shoot up a mosque in Christchurch”.

And while Simon Whitten observed “Andrew Neil's latest hire seems somehow familiar”, Lawrence Monk posted a photo of Ms Southern with representatives of French neo-Nazi group Génération Identitaire and asked “Please explain why you are employing Lauren Southern, a white supremacist bigot banned from entering the UK because of her race hatred views?” Meanwhile, Jeff Sparrow had found a rather more disturbing angle.

“Here’s Sky News’ guest Lauren Southern with the bodyguards she employed from Tom Sewell’s Lads Society. And here’s Stormfront describing how Tom Sewell spends his time. All very normal and fine”. And how does he spend his time? “Tom Sewell, the leader of the European Australian movement, gave a speech on 29 June to the XYZ Conference about National Socialism, natural order and the future of the White struggle in Australia”.

That’s the kind of company she keeps. And if I can find that out, so can Andrew Neil, the chairman of the company that runs the Speccy and its Australian offshoot. Osman Faruqi summed it up thus: “Prominent white nationalist Lauren Southern (a proponent of ‘the great replacement’ theory subscribed to by the Christchurch shooter) has moved to Australia and now writes for The Spectator and will be on Sky News this morning. Australia really is a dumping ground for these folk”. And Spectator Australia encourages them.

There seemss no barrel that Brillo’s empire will not scrape. I'll just leave that one there.

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