Benjamin Hannam remained in ‘National Action’ after it was outlawed, lied on his police application and was found in possession of bomb-making instructions – and admitting possessing an indecent image of a child
Metropolitan Police officer Benjamin Hannam has been found guilty of membership of banned far-right extremist group ‘National Action’ – and admitted possession of an indecent image of a child.
Hannam, 22 years old and a probationary officer for two years by the time he was uncovered, was also found to have documents on knife fighting and bomb-making. He had lied about his membership on his police application forms.
Some have observed that Hannam’s record is not too far out of keeping with the recent conduct of some of the Met:
The news will not help the force’s image after its recent abuse of women keeping a vigil on Clapham Common for murder victim Sarah Everard.
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After working with police on a daily basis for 40 years I can attest that many are decent, hard working honest officers. But far too many are racist, sexist, corrupt and hard Right – and unfortunately they basically run the Force. Police need radical reform, a top to bottom clear out of undesirables and a new structure. Intake should reflect diversity of society for starters. It seems very unlikely anybody called Johnson or Starmer would ever attempt such a reform; we’ll have to wait decades I imagine?
Intake should concentrate on getting the best potential thief takers that they can. I’d be shite chasing criminals in my wheelchair even though I’d tick a few boxes for the Identarians. We need tough officers but not misogynists..
alex – Don’t you remember the TV series ‘Ironside’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironside_(1967_TV_series)
I doubt many of the Bill are Nazis,but their can be no doubt the force is wide open to thugs with a complex to play it out with the public.and do some serious damage in the name of Her Majesty.
This is utterly disgraceful – what kind of recruitment/selection process does the Met have for screening applicants? An inadequate one clearly.
It makes my blood run cold to think of a person like this – a neo-nazi – being put in a position of power over any of us ( power which can so easily be abused as recent events have shown) but particularly power over anyone who is not White British and children too given his possession of an indecent image of a child.
A full open enquiry needs to be held into the recruitment and selection process to ensure this does not happen again and a full updated background check made on all existing officers to make sure he is the only neo-nazi in the Met. In my opinion there is every possibility that there are others and if that is the case we need to root them all out.
Rings, they almost always find each other.
Whilst this story is about an individual it seems to me to feed into a growing narrative in which the establishment is deliberately trying to provoke us into protest and as a result conflict. Increased police powers,failure of the media to offer scrutiny,a spineless political opposition and blatant profiteering and corruption. It is hard not to see yesterday’s report on institutional racism or the whitewashing of police actions at Clapham as anything other than provocation I may have this totally wrong but for those of old enough to remember the Government picked fights in 1981 and 1984 resulting in the diminution of civil rights and union power. Sorry this is such a long comment but I have real fears about what might happen in the coming months.
Yes. Patel as home secretary seems to be a driver of renewed police aggression.
“Sorry for such a long comment”. Aw, bless! Mate, you’ve got nothing to worry about as long as jpenney haunts these columns! Your fears, however, are totally justified…
Talking of picking fights, it’s not just the government:
https://www.counterfire.org/news/22064-shrewsbury-24-pickets-shine-a-light-on-the-dark-state
I remember when the police and prison officers used to wear gollywog badges as a sign of racism and were supporters of the national front it is still full of racists today
Maybe it was an actual requirement of the unit he hoped to join?
“Met Police officer found guilty of membership of banned neo-nazi group”
Only one???
Neo Nazis do seem to have a penchant for children don’t they.
They do, and it’s international and protected.
You’ve all got it all wrong…
…It’s only a few bad apples. 🤫
This is what they do, they infiltrate the military and the police to get the training and insider info they need, there is a great documentary somewhere in the internet dealing specifically with the problem of underground far right militaries forming Europe is apparently the worst.
I can’t remember where I watched it I am sure it was an English Indian TV Channel something like RT. Anyway a bit of digging will find it if you’re interested.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/dd002/29703686.ece/AUTOCROP/w1240h700/Salute.jpg
skellyknelly. Yes, exactly the same tactics used by Zionists to infiltrate political parties and broadcasters.
On analysis, by forced interaction with Zionists in general over the past 6 years I can’t say that I have noticed much to differentiate Zionists/Zionism from The Far Right.
It must be the strangest Love/Hate relationship in the history of relationships!
skellyknelly. What you said is true and the reason is that even though the far right are profoundly anti-Semitic, Zionists stay close to them and in many cases support them, because they have a common enemy in Socialists who are intrinsically anti-racist. Zionists and the far right are racist bed-fellows.
Wow what a last 2/3 weeks the Met and other police forces have had.
Some time ago I worked in a government department where there was a strong police presence.
I have to say many of them were left wing but I still didn’t feel confident in that they would police a protest fairly.
the mini-me to the US, cliff v elvis, wannabe armed cop aspiration continues. rather pathetically. they’ve adopted attack shields to stamp out violence. for an unarmed populace it’s all rather over the top and a pathetic craving to be armed and ready for a fight which they wouldn’t like at all.
You’d have thought the background checks on a new recruit would be better. That a Nazi sympathiser was in the Met’ Police should send shivers down your spine. Incompetence like this nothing new, here in Birmingham the Labour council didn’t make any DBS checks on drivers taking SEND pupils to school. There are scandals like this all over the country and if you’re charge you clear it up get sacked or go to prison!
How to join the Kill The Bill protests on 2, 3, 4 April
Find a protest near you
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/51560/How+to+join+the+Kill+The+Bill+protests+on+2%2C+3%2C+4+April
And nothing in Liverpool? Extraordinary!
Yes, it surprised me too.
One question MSM has never asked is why ‘Cress’ didn’t use female police officers to disperse the mass gathering on Clapham Common. Notice was given on previous days by MSM that huge numbers of people would be arriving from all over the country. Images of male riot police with armour was always going to be optic; a journalists delight & a newstory that would always have visual oxygen. A constructed story & a ‘set-up’.? In my parent’s pub, the women took care of any potential aggro.
Don’t kid yourself with the gentle touch agitprop. I have seen many occasions where. I’d better stop.
Slightly off topic (still concerns the Met)
Copied from elsewhere in the tubes;
…On either BBC or sky news she dropped a clanger of massive proportion Imo.
interviewed about the [police been exonerated over the Clapham brutality], Dick was asked about the royal sponger who went to the vigil, might have been a Kate something or other.
Dicks answer (to paraphrase) was if she wants to show her support then it’s OK, the interviewer then bought up a statement by Dick saying she would like to attend but cannot because it is illegal.
Dick didn’t know what to say.
So it’s OK for Spongers Ltd to commit illegal acts and not get a beating.
I’m surprised at the journal asking the question and then it being transmitted, whether it was shown again I don’t know.
Another promotion in the pipe line?
Is Dicks partner deputy commissioner, if she is the that seems to be very close to creating a dynasty within the Met…
Stammer finally makes the front page in the Huffington post “Starmer needs to inject more passion into his politics” says the post.Everybody seems to be pointing to just how his leadership has fallen flat whilst hes concentrating on a witchunt to please his funders the Israeli lobby. The knight is clearly not up to the job and even the right wing PLP are panicking about the dangerous drift without a proper Captain or crew running the day to day management of the Labour party.Time for a re.think and definitely remove the Cuckoos .in the nest. Funny that SH hasn’t made a comment today?..I wonder if hes decided to celebrate the Easter vigil and make a good confession.ITs is said that contrition is good for the soul..?
Joseph – How gratifying to see that I am never far from your thoughts. I don’t subscribe to any of your religious nonsense.
And if all the above wasn’t enough
Police watchdog accused of skewing report to back protests clampdown
“The Guardian has learned that the whistleblower, Alice O’Keeffe, has officially complained to her bosses at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). She believes the civil service code was breached. HMICFRS said it was assessing her claims.
Her formal written complaint contains allegations that HMICFRS told the home secretary in a private letter it backed the need to change protest laws five months before its report was published.
It is also alleged that some in the inquiry team, which was mainly made up of serving and former police officers, likened peaceful protesters to the IRA, which waged a terrorist campaign against the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/31/police-watchdog-accused-of-skewing-report-to-back-protests-clampdown
Some of you may find this of interest.
“In the face of government attacks on our civil liberties, we must protest.”
Howard Beckett
https://labourlist.org/2021/04/in-the-face-of-government-attacks-on-our-civil-liberties-we-must-protest/