Swinton circle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Swinton Circle is a right-wing conservative British pressure-group with links to the Conservative Party. It is staunchly pro-Unionist, neo-Imperialist and Eurosceptic, and is a strong supporter of Western military action in the War Against Terrorism.
The London Swinton Circle was founded in 1961. Its original membership was composed solely of those who had attended Conservative Party training schools at Swinton Castle in Yorkshire, and who wished to maintain contact with each other through regular meetings in London.
Since then, however, the London Swinton Circle has expanded its membership, and now welcomes members from all backgrounds who support 'traditional Conservative and Unionist principles', an expansion which came into effect in 1996 when a new constitution was approved. It holds regular meetings in London (usually on a monthly basis) which mainly take place either in a committee room in the Houses of Parliament or at nearby Portcullis House, where rooms are sponsored by a Member of Parliament. When Parliament is sitting speakers invariably tend to be Conservative, or Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) (and in the past Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)) MPs or Peers.
When Parliament is in recess, however, a wider range of interesting guest speakers are welcomed to alternative central London venues, particularly those connected to Eurosceptic organisations and representatives from the Commonwealth realms and British Overseas Territories. Once a year (usually in late summer or early autumn) the London Swinton Circle holds a special buffet evening, to which a prominent guest-of-honour is always invited.
In 1999 their then Chairman, Allan Robertson, launched a monthly newsletter Tough Talking From The Right, which has become the organisation's de facto publication.
The London Swinton Circle has also been involved in a number of single-issue campaigns, most notably one aimed at the abolition of the compulsory Television licence which is used to fund the BBC (see: Television licensing in the United Kingdom).
In October 2005 a joint party of London Swinton Circle and Springbok Club members visited Gibraltar and Cape Trafalgar in Spain in order to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. A wreath was laid on behalf of the London Swinton Circle at the grave of Lieutenant William Forster of HMS Colossus, who fought at Trafalgar and who subsequently died of his wounds in Gibraltar, and who is one of only two combatants from this battle to be buried in a marked grave at the Trafalgar Cemetery on the Rock (the other being Captain Thomas Norman of the Royal Marines corps on board HMS Mars, at whose grave a wreath was laid on behalf of the Springbok Club.) All the events commemorating this important battle undertaken by the London Swinton Circle and Springbok Club were co-ordinated by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.
Recent speakers have included Professor David Marsland, Godfrey Bloom MEP (United Kingdom Independence Party, Yorkshire), Peter Pepper of the Falkland Islands Association, Sammy Wilson MP (DUP, East Antrim), Simon Heffer, Lord Stoddart of Swindon (a Labour Life Peer), Tony Bennett, founder of Active Resistance to Metrication, Peter Robinson MP (DUP, East Belfast), Philip Davies MP (Conservative, Shipley), Derek Turner, Professor Alan Sked, the liberal former chairman of UKIP, Jillian Becker, the author and expert on counter-terrorism, and Jeffrey Donaldson MP (DUP, Lagan Valley).
The current Chairman of the London Swinton Circle is Greenwich Conservative Party activist Sean Pearson, and their Deputy Chairman in Alan Harvey, the editor of S.A. Patriot-in-Exile magazine.
