Skip to main content

Restore Meeting at Crookes Social Club

On Wednesday 12th August, Crookes Social Club (CSC) hosted a meeting of the Sheffield branch of Restore Britain. Alerted, at short notice, by regulars and members of staff, Sheffield Communities Against Racism and Fascism (SCARF) and other anti-fascists staged a picket outside.


Counter protesters gather outside CSC

While attendees ponder their life choices

CSC management hadn't been tricked into this position; they knew who they were hiring the space to, and questions and concerns from several regulars and locals were met with indifference or hostility. This was a choice to close the doors to club members and allow twenty fascists and fascist sympathisers exclusive use of the space to organise; a decision that surprised many regular users of CSC, who had previously viewed it as a venue free from organised far-right hate.

LOWE BLOWS

The term “fascist” can be bandied about casually. In the case of Restore Britain, we use it deliberately.

Restore formed as a political party at the beginning of the year, previously having existed as a pressure group built around Great Yarmouth MP and Tory defector Rupert Lowe. Although many of its members, including Rupert, split from Reform UK, Restore isn't just Reform Mk2. They have grabbed the ideological terrain to the right of the already far right Reform. They have pushed ideas, policies, and rhetoric transported directly from 1930s Germany - with party head Rupert Lowe proposing that refugees be confined to a remote Scottish island where “the midges can finish the job.” They have courted and received support from committed fascist activists, race rioters, and neo-Nazi influencers. Restore has also seen an influx of members from neo-Nazi organisations such as Homeland and Patriotic Alternative.


Restore supporters Harry Jackson and Ryan Ferguson at a demo in Long Eaton 15/8/26 

It is not just Restore’s rhetoric and links we object to though; it is their use of violence and intimidation. It was local Restore leader Mark Harrop from East Sheffield who organised the regular attempts to put up flags in Walkley, against the loudly expressed wishes of locals. Restore activists have used vehicles as weapons, running over locals who stopped them putting up flags in Walkley last year. Another prominent local Restore activist is Lee Shipley, based in Parson Cross and leader of the recently renamed Sheffield Patriots and organiser of racist marches in Sheffield.

CROOKED THINKING 

Crookes Social Club management has defended their decision by arguing that not booking Restore would amount to censorship. While SCARF is fully committed to the values of free speech, no business has an obligation to platform any and all political views. Restore is a vehicle for racists, fascists, and neo-Nazis to launder their extremist views and give them the veneer of respectability. The mainstreaming of violent and derogatory rhetoric has very real consequences for the groups who are targetted, many of whom use CSC. Granting legitimacy to hate groups such as Restore is neither apolitical nor democratic. Such a stance is either misguided or disingenuous.

SCARF wants social clubs like CSC to thrive. Run well, they can be a bulwark of social cohesion, a place where community can really exist. CSC is still a good venue, and we wouldn't judge people for continuing to use it. However, there will be a significant proportion who, if this situation is not resolved, no longer view CSC as a welcoming space. If we tolerate intolerance, where does that leave us? 

We want the members, users, workforce, management and guests of the club to really consider whether they are comfortable platforming hatred and fascist political organising. A known association with far-right will damage the club long-term.

Maurice Champeau, general manager of CSC has agreed to meet with us and other users of the space. We look forward to that meeting and hope for a positive outcome.

See you on the streets (or at the bar)!!

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

SCARF Statement – In Response to UKIP's March on 8th November

On Saturday 8th November a small band of fascists marched through Sheffield with the support and protection of a massive policing operation. Despite being billed as a national mobilisation, Nick Tenconi’s UKIP barely managed to draw 100 attendees from across the country, dwarfed by around 800 antifascists, the overwhelming majority from Sheffield. With less than two weeks’ notice, people across the city spread the word and turned out, making it clear that fascists are not welcome in our city. Despite outnumbering them 8:1, a feat widely celebrated this week, we were ultimately unable to stop the march. We need to learn from this so that the next time we ask “whose streets?”, the answer rings loud, clear and true. UKIP only marched because the police enabled them. South Yorkshire Police’s last-minute Section 14 order criminalised almost all opposition while granting UKIP a protected route through our city. Hundreds of officers, many drafted in from other forces and armed with bato...
Read more

Countering the Flags-On-Lamposts Group in Sheffield - Saturday April 4th 2026

On Saturday 4th April, local “flags-on-lampposts” group Raise The Colours Sheffield, alongside bath bomb salesman turned far-right auditor Ryan “Rampage” Dale, are organising what they describe as a “protest” in Sheffield. Their stated aims are vague, framed broadly as opposition to “the government,” but their own organising pages tell a clearer story. The comment threads surrounding the event are filled with open hostility toward migrants, asylum seekers, and, in many cases, anyone perceived to be of Middle Eastern or Muslim background. Calls for violence and dehumanising rhetoric are not only present but go unchallenged by organisers, and are often echoed by prominent figures within the group. One particularly disturbing post comes from main organiser Lee Shipley, who wrote that he hoped windy weather would cause migrant boats to sink, resulting in their deaths. Some posts, particularly from a user called “Dave Tune,” include coded language such as “KTF NSE” which stands for “Keep Th...
Read more

Raise the Colours Sheffield – Meet the Racists Next Door

Raise the Colours Sheffield (RTCS) is the local variant of a national campaign which launched last summer. The campaign sought to appropriate our flags as symbols of anti-migrant sentiment, primarily by attaching cheap St George’s Crosses and Union Jacks to lampposts, or crudely painting mini roundabouts. For many the novelty wore off fairly quickly, but in some areas this simple act has become a galvanising force for racist activism more broadly. RTCS is a classic example of this; united by a fear of migrants and an interest in far-right politics, a small group of friends began decorating street furniture, mainly in the north of the city around Parson Cross and Southey Green. Sustained by “donations” from some of their more sedentary neighbours, the group set about flagging streets by request – provided the cash had been received upfront. The occasional pro-Trump flag was added to the mix, just to make their noble stance on the protection of women and girls extra clear, while fear-...
Read more