YouTube channel’s ‘far right’ videos removed
TAKING ACTION TO HALT CLIMATE CHANGE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT AND FAIR TRADE WALES IS LOOKING TO ATTRACT FIRST TIME SUPPORTERS WITH VIRTUAL EVENT.
AWELSH YouTube channel that has featured an interview with members of a far-right group has had some of its videos taken offline for allegedly breaching community standards.
The Voice of Wales channel first aired on YouTube in July 2020, and has since uploaded an interview with members of the American farright group the Proud Boys, which has been labelled a terrorist organisation by the Canadian government, as well as being banned from several social media platforms.
Other speakers have included controversial figures such as former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson and former newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins, who used the phrase “the Pakistani Muslim mob is problematic” in a video uploaded to the Voice of Wales YouTube channel earlier this month.
The channel is facing criticism from politicians and race equality groups and has been the subject of a BBC programme. It has claimed in response that it will continue to run stories and highlight issues that “the mainstream media” will not touch.
A YouTube spokeswoman confirmed that three videos had been removed from the Voice of Wales channel after they were flagged, as well as removing the ability to show adverts on six further videos.
“YouTube’s community guidelines prohibit hate speech and we remove flagged videos and comments that violate these policies,” they said.
Ms Hopkins is seen making her remark in the video interview after stating: “I believe the Indian Hindu community is the best of us in the sense that they work harder than us and their children outperform ours. They are the best of British.
“I think that there’s communities who’ve integrated that have made us better and I think what we’re seeing now is no integration whatsoever.”
One of the faces of the channel is Stan Robinson, who has previously stood as an independent council candidate for a by-election in Swansea. During the discussion with Ms Hopkins, he said: “If I wanted to imbibe all things India, I would get on a jet and go to India. I don’t want it on my doorstep.”
The Voice of Wales channel has 5,000 subscribers and more than 350,000 views to date.
The BBC has reported that politicians and political parties in Wales have condemned the channel’s claim that it gave voice to people who were not represented by the “mainstream media”, following an investigation by BBC Wales’ Newyddion programme.
Mr Robinson also came under fire last year for suggesting in a social media post that a Sky News presenter should be “castrated”, as well as posting a conspiracy theory that the government and “MSM” – mainstream media – were keeping the threat of Muslim terrorism quiet, along with a highly derogatory statement about people from Pakistan.
Voice of Wales takes its activities offline as well, and has uploaded supportive videos of demonstrations outside the Liberty Stadium against Swansea City FC players taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr Robinson is joined by Dan Morgan on many of the channel’s videos. In another recent video, Mr Morgan did a livestream from outside an Arts Council of Wales building.
“So there’s good old Uzo Iwobi, there’s Barack Obama, Martin Luther King. What is this building? You’re not going to believe this. It’s actually the Arts Council of Wales... Because we all know that’s what Wales is going to become... African Arts Council of Wales.
“Did it say that? No. But it should have,” he said in the video.
Professor Uzo Iwobi OBE founded Race Council Wales 10 years ago and works to promote racial equality in Wales.
She said she “doesn’t have time for hate” and has “no time for racist ideology”, in response to the video.
“I work for peace for the people of Wales and serve them in promoting equality, fairness, cohesion and proper respect for Wales as a nation that is embracing all.
“My kids are both Welsh and were born here, we’re part of the Welsh community and we’re very proud of Wales. I’m a Welsh-learner. To have people judge others on the colour of their skin is despicable and I won’t get involved in the nasty rhetoric.”
Prof Iwobi added that she encouraged people in Wales to say “racism stops with me” by signing the zerotolerance to racism in Wales pledge on the Zero Racism Wales website.
“Everybody has a right to their perspective. The problem I have is that they refuse to give others a right to theirs. They need to realise you have white Welsh people, black Welsh people, Asian Welsh people and people who were born or settled in Wales have a right to be here,” she said.
Responding to the allegations made following the BBC programme, a spokesman for Voice of Wales said: “Wales Online is well aware of the numerous subjects Voice of Wales has reported on over the several months this media channel has been open.
“They have ranged from Brexit, fishing, the Kingsway in Swansea, Swansea council and its ineptness, Rob Stewart, the Education Bill going through the Senedd, the lockdown, and many other subjects.
“Out of hundreds of hours’ footage a 20-second snippet was found – which was corrected only moments later anyway.
“S4C/BBC chose to single out two subjects: BLM and the show’s guests, highlighting that Katie Hopkins has a ‘Twitter ban’.
“The Voice of Wales will continue to run stories, dig up dirt and highlight issues MSM [mainstream media] will not touch.”
A spokesman for anti-racism organisation Stand Up to Racism Swansea claimed: “Voice of Wales have been exposed. They claim to be a media outlet but they clearly are not. They’ve hosted the Proud Boys, Tommy Robinson and Katy Hopkins.
“They clearly aren’t a news organisation; people shouldn’t treat them as such”.
A spokesman for the Welsh Conservatives added: “Robust political debate, including disagreement, is one thing, but the kind of language used on the YouTube channel by the members and supporters of this organisation is completely unacceptable to – thankfully – the vast majority of Britons and those of other nationalities living in a modern, dynamic and diverse United Kingdom.
“People of all parties will reject the foul ideas and words used by members of this organisation, and anyone else who bases their prejudices and political ideology on where a person comes from, their nationality, ethnicity, or belief.”
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said: “When a platform is permitted to develop into this kind of hatefilled and hate-fuelled politics, then that can have terrible consequences for society. That’s why we have to challenge it – and call it out for what it is.
“The mask is slipping. Anyone who is helping them and co-operating with them, we must ask them too – what are your politics but that of the extreme right wing?”
And Swansea West MP Geraint Davies said: “Swansea is a community of communities and a City of Sanctuary. We’re working together to move out of the pandemic with everyone included.
“We’ve seen all our communities, and particularly mosques, engaging in providing food for those in need. The last thing we need is a very small group of troublemakers stirring up prejudice and division, what we need is solidarity moving forward for all.
“The fact they’ve hosted an outright racist group from the US who have actually been outlawed in Canada underlines that they are not part of the solution to the challenges we face.
“These groups claim the right to sow hatred is the same as the right to free speech, but it isn’t.”
IMAGINE you are in your kitchen one morning and the kettle has just boiled ahead of welcoming in the new day with a cuppa.
Except, there is no coffee or tea in the cupboard, so you make a quick dash for the shop and find they are missing from the shelves there as well. The same thing happens in the next shop and so on.
You head home with a thirst still unquenched and wonder what on earth is going on?
That may seem an unlikely scenario in 2021, but what about at some point in the future, if we don’t get our act together on climate change?
Luckily, there is a marvellous opportunity coming up for people to play their part in Wales. Fairtrade Fortnight runs from February 22 to March 7, although this time, of course, it will be very different from previous years.
OPENING UP HORIZONS TO A NEW AUDIENCE
Organisers just managed to get last year’s Fairtrade Fortnight in before lockdown, but, with an
online platform only this time, there becomes a chance to attract new people to the cause.
The pandemic has shown how interconnected we are globally, so what affects people in one corner of the globe can affect others thousands of miles away.
Fairtrade Fortnight will highlight the growing challenges that climate change brings to farmers and workers in the communities the organisation is involved with.
Put simply, those helping the production process in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Honduras and who have done the least to contribute to climate change, are disproportionately affected by it. Issues range from deforestation and changing weather patterns to rising temperatures, water scarcity and contamination.
And as farmers in these countries manage over 80% of the world’s 500 million farms, the gravity of the situation is plain to see. Crops of coffee, cocoa, honey, and vegetables in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua have been completely devastated.
By 2050 as much as 50% of the global surface area currently used for coffee farming may no longer be suitable and many cocoa growing regions in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire - which produce over half of the world’s cocoa - will become too hot to grow the crop.
JOIN THESE EVENTS AT FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT ADVERTISER CONTENT FROM FAIR TRADE WALES
There is plenty going on in Fairtrade Fortnight and here is just a snapshot.
• Climate Change Coffee Morning with Jenipher, Saturday, February 27, 11am-noon, online via Zoom. Drop in for a chat about climate change with a video message from Jenipher, a Fairtrade coffee farmer in Uganda. You can learn about how climate change is affecting crops and farmers and how buying Fairtrade can make a difference.
• Climate Justice for a Fairer World panel discussion, organised by Swansea Fair Trade Forum and supported by Fair Trade Wales, Thursday, March 4, 7-8.30pm. Experts covering climate, fair trade, education and community action will be on hand to share their knowledge and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas.
• Recipe video for a Fairtrade, vegan chocolate and tahini cake made by author Sarah Philpott, who will show you exactly how to make it.
Visit www.fairtradewales.com/ get-involved/fairtrade-fortnight-2021 to find out more.
Fair Trade Wales events and support coordinator Emina Redzepovic said: “Climate justice, fair trade and farmers rights go hand in hand. Fairtrade has always believed that there is no climate justice without trade justice. The climate emergency strikes at the very heart of Fairtrade’s mission to support and empower smallholder farmers.
“In 2019, landslides hit the Mbale region of Uganda. People lost their lives, homes, crops and their livelihoods. Deforestation, soil erosion and changing weather patterns can all contribute to landslides. The rains are now irregular, and when they come, the heavy rainfall causes landslides.
“Farmers and workers are on the front line of the climate emergency. Choosing Fairtrade supports higher incomes so that farmers can adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.”
HOW FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT CAN HELP
Wales, which made history by becoming the first ever Fair Trade Nation in 2008, has strong links with smallholder coffee farmers that are part of the Mt Elgon Agroforestry Communities Cooperative Enterprise (MEACCE), and has hosted many Fairtrade producers from Mt Elgon across Wales over the past 10 years. Most recently, the chair and vice chair of the Fairtrade coffee co-operative, Nimrod Wambette and Jenipher Wettaka, came to Wales in October 2019 to address the International Fair Trade Towns
Conference about the impact of climate change in their communities.
It’s important that people continue to highlight problems caused by climate change. These issues are occurring more regularly and hit rural and poor communities hardest.
Fairtrade is about social justice. A root cause of farmers’ inability to adapt and mitigate climate change is poverty. More money means more climate resilience into the future. Choosing Fairtrade means choosing improvements in producers’ livelihoods with collective strength through co-ops and their bargaining power, the protection of a minimum price and Fairtrade Premiums.
Fair Trade Wales is partnered by Hub Cymru Africa and funded by the Welsh Government.
Deputy Minister Jane Hutt said: “The global pandemic has shown how vital more resilient, fairer and more sustainable supply chains are as a focus for international development and in mitigating climate change.
“The Welsh Government have been committed to Fair Trade since 2006, with Wales proudly becoming the world’s first Fair Trade Nation in 2008. More than a decade on, we’re still resolute in our support for the fair trade movement and putting people and the planet before profit.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Buy Fairtrade products to support the right for farmers to be paid fairly for their work, meaning they have the chance to fight the challenges of the climate crisis right now. Support the Fairtrade movement to work with policy makers, businesses and government to influence change that will protect the most vulnerable. You can sign up to stay in touch.
For more on Fair Trade Wales, visit www.fairtradewales.com/ get-involved/join-our-mailing-list It is also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.