International Third Position
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- For another party by the name "England First", see England First Party.
International Third Position (ITP) was a United Kingdom group formed by the Italian Roberto Fiore and as a continuation of the Political Soldier movement that originated in the Third Positionist British National Front in the early 1980s. With a small but dedicated membership the ITP preached a form of revolutionary nationalism that attacked capitalism and looked to the Strasser brothers and Distributist writers like Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton for inspiration.[citation needed]
Initially the ITP distanced itself from traditional Fascism and Nazism, promoting "racial separatism" rather than crude racism. The International Third Position operated more as an "elite cadre" than a mass movement. It sought to become an umbrella organisation for various national revolutionary parties throughout Europe and the world.
Though a key formulator of the Third Positionist platform, Nick Griffin left a few years after the ITP's formation. After circa 4 years he threw his lot in with the British National Party (BNP), which he later took control of by attacking and undermining the BNP founder John Tyndall. Derek Holland, though appearing at nationalist functions as late as 2002, appears to have retired from active political involvement.
The ITP changed its name to England First in 2001 and has since become a part of the European National Front with the Spanish Falange, Italian Forza Nuova, Romanian Noua Dreaptă, Polish National Rebirth of Poland and others.
The most recent ITP/ENF gathering in central London in April 2005 drew 150 supporters. Overall membership is estimated by Searchlight magazine to be somewhat lower than this, although the ITP maintains a relatively strong publishing presence as well as its network of international contacts. The modern party is much less critical of Islam than the rest of the British far-right, and claims that the campaign against Islam is mostly driven by Jewish interests. The party remains strongly anti-Semitic. It believes that England, Scotland and Wales should be separate independent nations, and has some sympathy with Cornish nationalism.[1]
Publications supporting the ITP in the UK are Final Conflict, The Voice of St George and Candour (which was previously published by A. K. Chesterton and is the longest running far right publication in Britain). The movement also publishes a number of reprint books connected to its ideology.
