Dover Petrol Bombing WAS TERRORISM

As if the problem of overstaying and overcrowding at the Manston detention centre, and the behaviour of Suella Braverman, reinstated by Rishi Sunak to the role of Home Secretary, a role for which she appears manifestly unsuited, were not enough of a distraction, Sunday brought the further divertissement of a petrol bomb attack on another refugee transit facility in Dover.

Andrew Leak

The Western JetFoil site, now disused as the jetfoils have long ceased operation, was being used to temporarily house refugees. They have now been moved to Manston (thus making the overcrowding worse) after a man driving a Seat Terraco SUV threw two or three improvised petrol bombs at the facility. He was later found dead close to a nearby petrol station.

Before anyone had even identified the man, or asked why he had mounted the attack, some were taking to social media platforms to praise him. The assembled ranks of the Gammonati wanted to give him a medal. But they soon went quiet after he was identified as Andrew Leak, a 66-year-old whose social media history showed significant evidence of radicalisation.

So it should have surprised no-one when the BBC reported “Counter-terrorism police have taken on the investigation into a firebomb attack at a Dover immigration centre … Police who identified the man as Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe, said it was likely the attack was sparked by ‘some form of hate-filled grievance’ … A search warrant at a property found ‘a number of items of interest’”. Yesterday’s Guardian report went further.

“Andrew Leak, the man suspected of Sunday’s firebombing of a Dover migrant centre, had a history of sharing far-right content and posting racist comments online, prompting questions about why it took police two days to treat the attack as an act of terrorism”. And there was more.

“In October last year, Leak, 66, wrote that he had sent a parcel ‘to the British government’, warning it that ‘I will end illegal immigration into this country within one year from the French boat side’ … Leak, from High Wycombe, who was found dead after Sunday’s attack, made no secret of his admiration for Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League”. And more.

“He pictured himself online wearing a union jack face mask, and frequently shared posts by Robinson and conspiracy theories by several far-right groups, including New World Order, the Traditional Britain Group and Turning Point UK … In a post in July, Leak claimed ‘all Muslims are guilty of grooming … they only rape non-Muslims’”. And yet more - a lot more.

“Last year he wrote: ‘A message to the UK government: if you dare come for our children we will come for you. If I can not have freedom, then I will choose death’ … He also “liked” a number of far-right groups on Facebook, including Enoch Powell was Right; Close UK Borders; God Hates Islam; and Patriots party … He also posted conspiratorial and racist theories about China and Covid vaccines”. He had been radicalised by the far right.

As it was with Darren Osbourne, so it was with Andrew Leak. They get radicalised online and end up indulging in acts of terrorism. They profess their admiration for Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, and who will no doubt deny any responsibility for what happened in Dover - and, indeed, what ultimately happened to Andrew Leak.

That the Police did not immediately class as act of terrorism as it should have been suggests that Leak was not on their radar. But his Facebook wall was full of far right imagery. And he had posed with a number of face coverings - balaclavas, union flag lower face covering, grotesque masks, for instance - just to give them a clue, along with occasional outbursts of hatred.

And just to put the lid on it, as calls were being made for politicians to show a little restraint, exercise a bit of common sense over the incendiary rhetoric, Jonathan Gullis, who is at present a Tory MP, had, within 48 hours of Leak’s attack, named a hotel which was to accommodate asylum seekers.

This was a terrorist act. The Tories appear to have no problem cheering on a repeat, or maybe worse. That’s another reason for a General Election. Now.

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