Britain First wants the media to stop using the word 'racism'

The group voted for the policy at its national conference

Britain First leader Paul Golding is pictured at a rally (Rex)

The far-right group Britain First has called for the media to stop using the term “racist” in reports.

The policy was among 18 put forward at the group’s national conference in Sheffield, which also included banning Islam and classing policies which enable large number of foreigners entering the country as treason.

At the event, held in a hotel near Chesterfield and attended by around 50 people, Britain First debated whether the media should be banned from using the word “racism” – a discussion that divided the group, the Huffington Post reported.

“The word 'racism' has for too long been used a (sic) weapon to undermine debate and to suppress discussion on important matters of nationhood, immigration and political correctness,” the policy read.

“If we were in prison racism would be the bars,” Britain First leader Paul Golding told the room.

On the group’s website it argues that “word “racism” was invented by a communist mass murderer, Leon Trotsky, to silence European opposition to “multi-culturalism”, so we do not recognise the validity of this made-up word.”

The public weren’t so convinced by the idea and took to Twitter to mock the group.

Established as an off-shoot of the far-right British National Part (BNP) in 2011, Britain First came to mainstream attention in the summer of 2014 under the slogan “taking out country back.”

In mid-November, it became the first political part in the UK to receive more than 1 million followers on Facebook.

The group frequently posts populist posts which divert from its core far-right message, including those relating to animal cruelty.

At the time, Matthew Collins, a member of the counter-racism and fascism group Hope Not Hate who has been monitoring Britain First’s page for a number of years, estimated that less than a third of its Facebook followers understand the group’s cause.

“People don’t even realise they are signing up to the group,” he told The Independent.

The group was recently embroiled in its latest controversy surrounding the appropriate use of images on its Facebook page, after a mother of a young girl said she was “livid” that Britain First used an image of her daughter selling poppies on their Facebook page.

Britain First did not respond to requests for comment from The Independent at the time the photo was published.