White supremacist group leader urges supporters to infiltrate Reform UK

Martin Shipton

An unashamed racist whose organisation has bought two plots of land in rural Wales to create whites-only enclaves has encouraged like-minded individuals to infiltrate Reform UK.

In December 2024 Nation.Cymru reported how The Woodlander Initiative (TWI), which has links to the neo-fascist Patriotic Alternative group, had bought two plots of land close to the village of Llanafan Fawr, near Builth Wells in Powys.

TWI has a long-term ambition to own land in every county in the UK. The organisation, which is a limited company, is headed by Simon Birkett, a tattoo artist who has previously been involved with the National Front, the British National Party and the Conservative Party. He lives in an “off-grid” cabin near Warminster, Wiltshire, and has built an online following among the far right via his YouTube and Telegram channels and guest appearances on various fascist streams.

Orania

Birkett has been involved in PA since early 2020 and addressed the group’s annual conference in October 2024. In his speech, he advocated the building of a “parallel society”, citing Orania, a whites-only town in South Africa, as an example.

In an article for TWI members, Birkett invoked the “Great Replacement” among a number of other conspiracy theories, claiming that “those in power” are “intentionally replac[ing] one population with another” and that “White Europeans are being out bred” by migrants.

He concluded: “We have to be the ones that create an elite, a vanguard, an alternative group who will actively do what’s best for us.”

In its online magazine, the anti-fascist organisation Hope not Hate wrote: “Purchasing land and property is a long-standing aspiration for many on the far right, who desire a space in which they can host events with fewer risks or, more ambitiously, to withdraw into ‘whites only’ enclaves. There have been previous such attempts in the UK by members of Combat 18, the BNP, National Action and other groups, all of which have ended in failure.

“PA leader Mark Collett wrote in the fascist magazine Heritage & Destiny: “The Woodlander Trust [sic] is a fantastic initiative that allows nationalists to pool their money in order to purchase land and property, so now we have places to meet, camp and socialise. This is a long term plan that will hopefully catch on and turn into the establishment of indigenous heartlands; places for our people.”

On November 2-3 2024, 10 PA activists camped at TWI’s land in Llanafan Fawr. PA encourages such activities in pursuit of its central goal – establishing cohesive far-right communities across the UK.

At PA’s national conference in October 2024, Birkett was photographed with the Australian neo-Nazi and serial criminal Blair Cottrell. Cottrell is an Australian far-right extremist and neo-Nazi. He is the former chairman and a founding member of the United Patriots Front (UPF) and the Lads Society. He has been convicted and served prison time for stalking, arson, illegal sales of steroids, and burglary.

Neo-Nazi

Cottrell’s right-wing views have been described by Australia’s former Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane, as neo-Nazi. He has been convicted of charges of inciting hatred against Muslim communities.

In 2015, Cottrell stated on Facebook a desire to see a portrait of Adolf Hitler hung in Australian classrooms and for copies of Mein Kampf to be “issued annually” to students, and has made anti-Semitic and racist comments in support of Nazism.

In 2018, Cottrell openly advocated for Remigration, calling for the deportation of “enemies of my country” and the execution of immigrants who refused to leave.

In 2017, Cottrell, Neil Erikson, and Chris Shortis were found guilty by a magistrate of inciting contempt against Muslims after they had enacted and made a video of a fake beheading, to protest against the building of a mosque in the city of Bendigo.

On September 13 and 14, TWI will hold its first “family camp” at Llanafan Fawr, The Times has reported.

Birkett has told his supporters that raising funds to buy plots of land is the only successful route to “building that alternative” to what he describes as the “darkness” of the rest of society.

The Times has reported how in a recent YouTube video made in mid Wales, he urges viewers to infiltrate Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to install far-right sympathisers in positions of power. “You could become a councillor, you could become an MP … we need people in positions of power,” he says.

“If we can get enough of our guys in there talking the right talking points we may be able to drag that already existing party further our way. You will see a lot of this over the next six to eight months.”

He urges caution, adding: “If you want to play politics, there is no reason you shouldn’t use what is there on a plate for you.

“I would suggest you keep your hand close to your chest, keep your head down, work hard and get yourself into a position of power within that party.”

Vetting structures

A Reform party source told The Times it had vetting structures in place to ensure members of groups such as TWI were “never allowed in the party”.

A Llanelli Labour source told Nation.Cymru: “We have had our problems with the far-right, including threats of extreme violence and intimidation of elected politicians just for representing their constituents.

“So it is very alarming to hear that fascists plan to buy land in every county, and have bought up land in mid Wales for all-white enclaves to breed hate and resentment.

“There are already fears in government that there could be a summer of riots fuelled by far-right doctrine and lies about illegal immigrants. That is the last thing the country needs.

“Wales has a proud history of opposing Nazism. The fascists are a clear and present danger to our society and Welsh communities.

“We very much doubt these extremists will cut much ice with the Welsh electorate under their own colours – because voters are more sensible than that – but it is worrying that they are threatening to infiltrate Reform UK.

“That party, with its lax vetting procedure, has already shown itself to be wide open to the extremes of the far-right and some very dubious characters.

”We urge the public to beware the likes of these fascists and their dangerous politics of hate and to focus their thoughts on just what a Reform UK-led Welsh Government might look like.

“They are the same people who urged us all to vote for Brexit – a policy which led to the closure of Port Talbot steelworks, did huge damage to the Welsh economy and cost this country millions of pounds in investment from Europe.

“Trump-supporting Nigel Farage and his cronies – who offer no hope to the people of Wales – and would just bring more austerity and cuts, must disown the fascists and the Nazis, as well as the far-right Voice of Wales conmen who pretend to be genuine journalists, but are nothing more than a propaganda outlet spouting hatred of people’s race, colour and sexuality.

“Reform UK, Voice of Wales and the fascists have no answers to the problems Wales faces and just offer glib so-called solutions such as ‘re-opening the coal mines’, which are simply unfeasible.

“They claimed the NHS under the Conservative government would benefit by over £300 million a week – only to see real term cuts. With them, politics is a blame game of sound bites, and certainly not a programme for sensible government.”