Ray Hill (British activist)
Raymond Hill | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 14 May 2022[1] | (aged 82)
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Stamford Secondary School, Ashton-under-Lyne |
Occupation | Gold Miner |
Known for | Far-right activist turned mole |
Notable work | The Other Face of Terror: Inside Europe's Neo-Nazi Network (1988) |
Title | Deputy leader of the British Movement |
Term | 1980–1982 |
Political party | British Movement South African National Front British National Party |
Movement | Racial Preservation Society |
Spouse | Glennis Hill |
Children | 3 |
Raymond Hill (2 December 1939 – 14 May 2022) was a former leading figure in the British far right who went on to become a well-known informant. A sometime deputy leader of the British Movement and a founder member of the British National Party, Hill also secretly worked for Searchlight in feeding information about the groups' activities.
Early years
Born in Mossley, Lancashire, Hill was educated at the local Church of England primary school and at Stamford Secondary School in Ashton-under-Lyne. He spent three years in the army in the 1950s. Ray moved to Leicester in 1965 where he met Glennis and they were married in June 1966. Their first child was born a year later in 1967.[2]
British Movement
Hill made his first steps in the far right in the latter 1960s with a local group called the Anti-Immigration Society (AIMS), promptly switching to the larger Racial Preservation Society to which AIMS was closely linked.[3] From there he met Colin Jordan and soon became a member of the British Movement, being appointed Organiser for Leicester in 1968 as well as Jordan's election agent for his campaign in the 1969 Birmingham Ladywood by-election. Although his wife largely tolerated his political involvement, Hill's arrest for actual bodily harm in late 1969 led to his disengagement and the couple deciding to emigrate.[4]
South Africa
Hill emigrated to South Africa the following year, and became disabused of his former views after becoming friendly with members of South Africa's Jewish community. He was asked by a friend to infiltrate the South African National Front, an organisation for ex-pat whites, eventually rising to the chairmanship as well as undertaking a series of speaking engagements for the Afrikaans Herstigte Nasionale Party (a radical breakaway from the ruling National Party).[5]
Return to Britain
Hill returned to Leicester in 1980 where he became associated with Anthony Reed Herbert, initially in the National Front, then in the British Democratic Party. Hill did not actually join either group; instead, he renewed his membership in the British Movement.[6] Around this time Hill also began to work in secret for Searchlight, helping to foil an alleged gun-running plot by the BDP.[7] Hill's presence as a double agent in the BM also ensured that their activities were disrupted and that they were subject to several police investigations regarding allegations of planned violence.[8]
By then deputy leader of the BM, Hill clashed with leader
Revealed as a mole
Hill revealed himself to be a "mole" in 1984 in a documentary for
Subsequent activity
Hill became a regular columnist for Searchlight from then on, and in 1988 published a book about his experiences, The Other Face of Terror, with the journalist Andrew Bell. Called as a witness before the European Parliament's Commission on Racism and Xenophobia, Hill's evidence included the claim that within the neo-Nazi underground a system of "brown aid" existed for fugitives and those defined by the movement as political prisoners.[18] He contended that he personally had been involved in "safehousing" several far right Italian fugitives during his political involvement.[19]
Hill was also elected as an Honorary Vice-President of the National Union of Students due to subsequent work he undertook with students.[20]
Hill died on 14 May 2022, at the age of 82.
Elections contested
Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Leicester West | BNP | 469 | 1.0 |
Bibliography
- R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror- Inside Europe's Neo-Nazi Network, London: Collins, 1988.[22]
References
- ^ a b c Bell, Andrew (29 May 2022). "Ray Hill obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ^ Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity, New York University Press, 2003, p. 40
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ^ Nigel Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 23-24
- ^ Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism, p. 30
- ^ The Guardian, 11 June 1983
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
- ^ Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918–1985, Basil Blackwell, 1987, p. 288
- ^ Geoffrey Harris, The Dark Side of Europe: The Extreme Right Today, Edinburgh University Press, 1994, pp. 125–127
- ^ Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism, p. 29
- ^ Martin A. Lee, The Beast Reawakens, Warner Books, 1997, p. 204
- ^ Lee, The Beast Reawakens, p. 206
- ^ J.S.O.C and the Josephine Butler lecture series present: Ray Hill
- ^ Searchlight, RIP Ray Hill, Searchlight Team, 14 May 2022.
- ISBN 978-0586069356.
External links
- Can Fascists Recant? at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 May 2009)
- Ray Hill's Speech at The Cambridge Union Society (audio recording)
- The Other Face of Terror (Channel 4 documentary 1984)
- RIP Ray Hill, Obituary dedicated to Ray Hill by Searchlight Team
- Paying tribute to Ray Hill, Searchlight Team, 21 May 2022
- Death of far-right infiltrator Ray Hill, who engineered splits among bigoted parties, Jewish News, 18 May 2022
- Ray Hill - giant of the anti-fascist movement, Morning Star, 23 May 2022
- Ray Hill obituary, The Guardian, 29 May 2022
- Former neo-nazi Ray Hill who brought down Leicester's far-right movement dies aged 82, Leicester Mercury, 1 June 2022