Denis Pirie
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Denis Pirie was a veteran of the British far right scene who took a leading role in a number of movements.
Pirie began his career as a member of the British National Party and was appointed a member of the party's national council not long after its foundation. [1] He soon became associated with the more openly Nazi wing under Colin Jordan and took an active role in the his and John Tyndall's attempts to set up a paramilitary wing 'Spearhead'. Pirie was arrested at one of their drills in 1961 and was sentenced to three months imprisonment for his role. After the court passed sentence Pirie gave a Hitler salute to the court. [2]
After his release from prison Pirie followed Jordan and Tyndall into the National Socialist Movement in 1962. Whilst here, he joined Tyndall in attempting to procure funds from Egypt for the NSM, although nothing came of this.[1] During the quarrel between the two Pirie largely sided with Tyndall and so followed him in to the Greater Britain Movement in 1964. Pirie joined the National Front at the same time as the rest of the GBM and continued to feature prominently, gainig a seat on the NF Directorate. Pirie was dismissed from the Directorate in 1973 after it came to light that he attended celebrations for Hitler's birthday, although he had regained his place by the following year. [3]
Around this time Pirie enrolled as a mature student at the University of Sussex and soon became friends with Richard lawson, a young radical in the NF. Pirie's political outlook began to change and he abandoned the neo-Nazism that had previously defined his politics, adopting a Strasserite otlook and becoming associated with this faction. Grouped around The Beacon, a party newpaper, the Strasserites initially represented an independent faction within the NF but soon became associated with the populists of John Kingsley Read in his struggle against Tyndall. As a result Pirie became a founder member of the National Party and took a leading role in this group during its fairly brief existence. [4]
When the National Party floundered Pirie left active politics until the mid-1980s when he joined up with Martin Webster in organising One Nation. Initially taking a leading role in the group, Pirie's involvement was curtailed when the press leaked the story of his involvement in the group whilst also working n a potentially sensitive role as a civil servant in Whitehall. [5] With One Nation only holding a few meetings and Pirie's involvement compromised by the press leak he retired from active politics after this incident.
[edit] References
- ^ J. Bean, Many Shades of Black, London: new Millennium, 1999, p. 155
- ^ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, p. 45
- ^ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, p. 152
- ^ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, pp. 187-90
- ^ G. Gable, 'The Far Right in the United Kingdom', L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan (eds.), Neo-Fascism in Europe, London: Longman, 1991, p. 252
