Neo Nazis in Glasgow set up 'whites-only' soup kitchen

Giving out food - intended to provide a veneer of legitimacy - has been a tactic of fascist groups for decades

Food in Glasgow city centre, being distributed to white people only (NOP)

Neo-Nazis in Glasgow have been donating food on a ‘whites-only’ basis to homeless people in the city.

Members of extreme far-right group National Action were joined by Polish outfit Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (NOP), also known as National Rebirth of Poland.

National Action are openly neo-Nazi and a man linked with the group was convicted of the attempted beheading of an Asian man in Wales in 2015.

The NOP have also been linked to extremist groups in Poland and acts of violence, including a 2015 attack on a music festival in Tottenham.

Photos showed a small group of people, outside the St Enoch Centre, central Glasgow, dressed in bomber jackets, camouflage-style trousers and boots and attending a stall with crisps, bottled water and other assorted food items.

Accompanying the stall was a banner which said: “White rescue. Charity campaign for Europeans.”

The food was situated on top of a ‘White Pride’ sign.

Holding flags, the groups also posed for photographed with recipients of their ‘charity’, though there was no suggestion the homeless people knew who the group were.

Police attended the event but did not take any action as nothing illegal was happening .

“These people are fascists who prey on the most vulnerable,” solicitor Aamer Anwar told The National. “Homelessness is not caused by refugees fleeing war torn countries nor is it caused by ethnic minorities.

“These wannabe ‘master race’ types have no place in Scotland – one look at their website reveals their true intentions.”

Fascist groups, dating back to Hitler’s Brownshirts, have long used social outreach to give a veneer of respectability to their organisations. In more modern times, the practice has been adopted by Golden Dawn in Greece and Casa Pound in Italy, both extreme far right groups which have exploited economic hardship.

In the UK, National Action have the “ultimate aim of a white Britain” and have openly espoused support for Hitler and National Socialism.

Though the group is a relatively vocal, its members are only estimated to number around 100 by Hope Not Hate, an anti-racism watchdog. However, they are described by the monitor as a “dangerous organisation”, with “a talented online operation with smart use of imagery and media”.

According to Hope Not Hate, the Polish NOP has been present in the UK since around 2010.

Small numbers of violent Polish neo Nazis in the UK have become acquainted with their British counter-parts and been seen on demonstrations with them.

Their presence is believed to have emboldened British racists, who have suffered a loss of direction since the as a result of the decline of the BNP and EDL.