David Clews
Frogs, clowns, and swastikas Alt-right |
Chuds |
Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time |
Buzzwords and dogwhistles |
“”Clews and his UNN media channels are growing all the time.
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—Unnamed anti-fascist investigator.[1] |
“”He has zero interest in the truth, but instead makes his money spreading spurious conspiracy theories and racist nonsense.
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—Hope not Hate spokesperson[2] |
“”I'm not mental.
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—David Clews[3] |
David "The Emperor" Clews (October 1983–)[4] is a former Conservative and Labour councillor turner alt-right activist, best known as the co-founder and lead correspondent of the far-right webshite Unity News Network (UNN).[5][6] Through this platform and personal speaking appearance at far-right rallies he has supported Brexit and the Free Tommy Robinson protests, denied COVID-19[7] and climate change,[8] spread anti-vax and immigration conspiracies,[7] and decried white genocide and cultural Marxism.[9] He has also platformed the likes of Mark Collett, Nick Griffin and James Costello.[9] He has himself been the subject of conspiracy theories withing the alt-right due to his odd political record and his wife’s supposed job with a well-known defence contractor.[10]
The imperial march[edit]
The little emperor[edit]
Born in Renfrew in 1982 to a "a typical west of Scotland, Unionist loyalist family, that loved this country and supported the royals," "a family where BNP views were not frowned upon," Clews attended private day school Kelvinside Academy and studied theology at the University of Glasgow.[11] "I think it’s safe to say when I was in my teens," he later recalled,[8] "I was somewhat right of centre [in] my politics but I sort of toned it down a bit, which was a stupid move really."
Entering into local politics, he was elected as a Conservative councillor for Renfrewshire in 2007, where according to a former colleague:[11]
We all laughed at him because we thought he was bonkers. He used to come up with outrageous ideas and really right-wing policies. I always got the sense he was putting on an act to seem posher than he was.
Becoming “disillusioned” by Conservative austerity policies, Clews earned himself the nick-name "Tory Boy" by defecting to the Labour Party in 2011.
He briefly joined the anti-Scottish-independence organisation Scotland in Union in 2012, before leaving the following year to form his own splinter group, UK Unity.[3] His home was raided by police investigating data protection offences after a list of high-profile donors to Scotland in Union was leaked.[12][11]
The emperor's new new new clothes[edit]
Clews teamed up with former UKIP Scotland youth leader Carl Pearson in 2019 to found the far-right political webshite Unity News Network (UNN) which quickly established itself as an influential platform for the UK's new alt-right.[13]
Cementing his new found fame Clews has become a regular speaker at conferences for British far-right white nationalist group Patriotic Alternative (PA), where, despite not being a member, he is hailed as the emperor of peace. Hope not Hate spokesperson David Lawrence concludes:[8]
PA is a fringe fascist group, made up of conspiracy cranks. This fact would have been obvious to anyone who listened to the conference speeches, during which the group’s leadership recommended Mein Kampf to the audience and compared PA’s mission to that of Nazi soldiers on the Eastern Front. That Clews felt at home at such an event tells you all you need to know about him.
Crossing the Rubicon and back again[edit]
“”They want some form of race war.
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—David Clews[11] |
Clews fanned the flames of the 2024 United Kingdom riots appearing on a UNN live stream from a family holiday in Costa Rica within hours of the Southport stabbing and, with the phrases "this is the name that’s doing the rounds," and "play guess the religion anyone," spreading Bernie Spofforth's false identification of the perpetrator as a Muslim immigrant.[11] He went on to suggest that the attacker could have been brainwashed and the murders "co-ordinated by MI5." Absolving the rioters of any blame, he claimed that "hose responsible for what is happening across the country sit in the corridors of power in 10 Downing Street, Palace of Westminster etc." and that the riots were "self-defence" against "the security services and parts of the British government [that] want to see these attacks happening." Urging the rioters to keep taking to the streets, he stated, "don’t give them anything to use against you but we must continue until this country is liberated from tyranny," and, "there’s no going back from this now. The Rubicon has been crossed, we need to defend ourselves."
A short time later, coincidentally not long after Spofforth's arrest, Clews did an apparent about face, stating:[1]
We have turned the comments section off on Telegram for the foreseeable future. Last week was a tsunami of information and comments and anything inflammatory was removed at the quickest speed possible. The only people responsible for these comments are the individuals or groups who post them for whatever reasons they do. I have made numerous videos and posts clearly stating that the use of racial slurs and threats to violence will be removed and users banned. We have a small team of moderators and bot filters in place.
Styling himself after Tommy Robinson, Clews announced that he would remain in exile in his family holiday destination of Costa Rica and requested donations to help him do so, stating:[2]
What troubles me the most is that Hope Not Hate and the media will be sending their lies to the Police and CPS to try and have me investigated on spurious charges. The issue is people are being remanded and given no bail and then being put straight to trial away from family and loved ones. So I have taken the decision not to return to the UK at this time. What we need to do is wait and see how things play out over the next couple of weeks then I will review things from there. Yet be not afraid as I have never felt more positive. The suffering and then resurrection of Christ teaches us that hope can always spring eternal from the darkest of places and I value all of the prayers that have been made. Donations and support is welcome from those who are sick of the corrupt press working in lockstep with the British regime to try and silence their critics.
A HNH spokesperson responded:[2]
As usual, David Clews is playing the victim and blaming others for his misfortunes. This should be unsurprising, as anyone who has paid the slightest attention to him will know he has zero interest in the truth, but instead makes his money spreading spurious conspiracy theories and racist nonsense.
Apparently not gathering enough donations to remain in Costa Rica, Clews next showed up in Poland threatening to flee to Belarus.[14]
Imperial edicts[edit]
Climate change denialism[edit]
“”It’s just not real.
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—David Clews[8] |
Speaking about what he referred to as the “ongoing climate change scam," Clews has said:[8]
The climate naturally changes but these people are deliberately lying, saying that it is mankind responsible for that – that if we don’t give all our money to Africa we’re gonna die of climate change. It is a hoax and a shake-down.
COVID-19 denialism[edit]
“”The mainstream media says the science on this is settled but there are different ways of looking at it.
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—David Clews[7] |
Cashing in on the pandemic, Clews claimed that Covid-19 was planned, that the vaccines were "committing murder," and that, "People are dropping like flies. Footballers, athletes, musicians, perfectly healthy people are just dropping dead." He sold a £5 card for parents to give to their children, stating: "I am not allowed to be tested or vaccinated."[7]
A local resident, who lost her mother to COVID-19 said of Clews:[7]
He clearly hasn’t lost any close member of his family to it. It is very annoying because they can’t imagine what people go through when they lose a loved one to the virus.
Prof. Hugh Pennington of Aberdeen University, who accussed Clews of "talking bollocks," stated:[7]
The evidence is as good as you could ever want. Persuading them is a waste of time because they are beyond persuading. It goes back to the Middle Ages when the plague was all the fault of the witches. Some things never change.
Clews was unable to provide any evidence to the Sunday Mail to support these claims or his claim that these claims had been “fact-checked”.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Far-right Scottish influencer shuts down social media chat after "tsunami" of racist comments by Mark McGivern (August 10, 2024) Daily Record
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Far-right influencer begs for donations after fleeing Scotland as he fears arrest by Mark McGivern (August 17, 2024) Daily Record
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 'I'm not mental' says David Clews of pro-Union splinter group UK Unity by Bridget Morris The National
- ↑ David CLEWS Companies House
- ↑ Rogues’ gallery of figures fanning the flames of violence by Tom Witherow and Mario Ledwith (August 5, 2024) The Times
- ↑ Actors, activists and conspiracy theorists – a guide to the British far right by Ben Quinn (August 7, 2024) The Guardian
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Scots virus expert says ex-Tory politician's views on vaccines 'belong in Middle Ages' by Craig Robertson (Febuary 20, 2022) Sunday Mail
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Former Scots Tory councillor emerges as leading influencer for Patriotic Alternative by Mark McGivern (November 13, 2023) Daily Record
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 CASE FILE: Unity News Network Hope Not Hate
- ↑ Patriotic Alternative conference exposes weaknesses and international connections (October 12, 2023) Searchlight
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 The far-right influencer from Renfrew who fanned flames after Southport killings by Dominic Hauschild (August 10, 2024) The Sunday Times
- ↑ Police raid home of UK Unity founder as Scotland in Union data leak investigation continues The National
- ↑ Ukip 2.0: young, angry, digital and extreme by Josh Halliday and Peter Walker (March 3, 2019) The Guardian
- ↑ Clueless Clews does a runner (August 31, 2024) Searchlight