UKIP duo host notorious Holocaust denier

Martin Shipton

Two far right podcasters – one of whom is a convicted fraudster while the other is UKIP’s general election candidate for Llanelli – have showcased a notorious Holocaust denier.

Dan Morgan, who received a suspended prison sentence for his role in a multi-million-pound insurance scam that saw people duped into paying up-front fees with the promise of refunds that never materialised, and Ukip’s Stan Robinson hosted Alistair McConnachie on their Voice of Wales channel.

Condemnation

Both Morgan and Robinson have been prominent far right activists in Wales for several years.

In 2021 YouTube removed two channels jointly run by him and fellow far-right activist Stan Robinson because of their racist content.

Welsh politicians and race equality groups condemned the Voice of Wales channel for airing interviews with The Proud Boys, an American far-right group that has been outlawed in Canada, and controversial figures such as former English Defence League leader “Tommy Robinson”, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Ironically, Mr McConnachie was expelled by UKIP in 2001 for telling brazen lies about the Holocaust. He stated that he does not believe the Nazis killed any Jewish people in gas chambers and that eyewitness testimony to the contrary was “false”.

In July 2023 he led an anti-republican counter demonstration in Edinburgh in advance of a “mini coronation” for King Charles in the city’s St Giles Cathedral.

There were far more republican campaigners, including from the group Salvo, than those opposing them. The opposition camp led by Mr McConnachie waved signs that read “Charles King of Scots”.

Mr McConnachie shouted at the republicans, accusing them of having inappropriately come up from England to tell “the Scots what to think” about the monarchy.

“They don’t have a right to come up here from London,” he said.

Asked how his assertion that campaigners from south of the Border should not be in Edinburgh squared with his Unionist views, Mr McConnachie repeatedly mocked a reporter’s English accent.

“Ooooh noooo, I knoooow,” he whined in a faux imitation of an English voice, finishing when pushed: “I’m very happy for it [the UK] not to include you.”

Holocaust denial

Asked if he stood by his denial of the Holocaust, McConnachie presented what was seen as an incoherent position. He insisted that he was not a Holocaust denier, but stood by his assertion that “gas chambers [were not] used to execute Jews” – and that eyewitness accounts of it happening had been “revealed as false or exaggerated”.

After initially saying he had “never” denied the Holocaust, he subsequently admitted that quotes attributed to him in the Guardian in 2001, in which he denied the murder of Jews in gas chambers, still represented his position.

He said: “I’m not a Holocaust denier. That’s not Holocaust denial … that’s a different matter I think. I’ve been very clear on that. I’ve been very clear on my position on that.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition says that Holocaust denial encompasses “publicly denying or calling into doubt the use of principal mechanisms of destruction (such as gas chambers…)”.

Asked if both standing by his statements and claiming not to be denying the Holocaust was “incoherent”, Mr McConnachie said it was not.

Asked if he would like to explain his position on the Holocaust to the German TV cameras that he had been attempting to talk to, Mr McConnachie said: “No, I’m not here to tell anybody anything, I’m here to do this. And what you should do sir is maybe you should look into history and work things out for yourself instead of just promoting false news all the time. You should do that.

“I’m talking about history and I think you need to look at it, I think you need to look at a lot.”

Mr McConnachie then terminated the interview, saying: “You don’t deserve an answer but you’ve got an answer, just run along. I’m not answering any more of your questions … God Save the King, God Save the King!”

Hate Crime Act

The Scot is also known for founding A Force for Good, a pro-Union campaign group. He also set up a political party named Independent Green Voice that, while it failed to win any MSPs at the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, was credited by some with robbing the Greens of extra seats due to its presentation on the ballot.

In his discussion with Morgan and Robinson, Mr McConnachie criticises Scotland’s Hate Crime Act, which came into force on April 1.

A Llanelli Labour source, who asked for anonymity because of their fear of reprisals, said: “By giving credibility to an unashamed Holocaust denier like McConnachie, Morgan and Robinson have sunk to a new low and exposed how far to the right UKIP has travelled.

“I have no doubt the people of Llanelli will reject their divisive politics when the general election comes.”