Farage reports HOPE not Hate to the Charity Trust

Nigel Farage has written to the Charity Commission regarding his old enemies at HOPE not Hate (HnH):

I have written to the Charity Commission regarding Hope Not Hate’s political activities. pic.twitter.com/NpQRIK09Uq

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 27, 2026

We’re no fans of Farage, but he’s not the only one saying HOPE not Hate is pushing what’s acceptable. And while HOPE not Hate does good work documenting the British far-right, the charity/activist organisation also has far-right links of its own — namely to the Zionist movement.

Political messaging

On 21 May, right-wing activist Carl Benjamin posted the following. In response, Adam Wren (director of Open Justice UK) provided some clarity:

Quite a few organisations in the UK have this dual setup, most of the ‘Tufton street’ think tanks for example. I have an application with the charity commission pending too. It’s mostly innocuous, just lets you comment on policy but this is really pushing it

— Adam Wren (@aswren) May 21, 2026

Novara’s Aaron Bastani commented on the above, saying:

This is insane!

I don’t think charities necessarily should be apolitical – but for now those are the rules. I know people in the third sector who’ve come close to being fired for expressing vaguely political sentiments during elections!

This is another level.

Farage speaks

In his letter, Farage writes:

There are numerous reports of HOPE Not Hate sending leaflets to addresses within the Makerfield constituency ahead of the Parliamentary by-election on 18 June. The leaflet allegedly endorses Andy Burnham, Labour’s candidate, and attempts to influence voters’ decisions. The tone and content of the leaflet is clearly directed towards persuading the reader to vote for a particular candidate, and the text in the footer, “To join the local fightback against Reform, please scan the QR code”, is party political.

The letter states that it is promoted by Nick Lowles on behalf of HOPE Not Hate Limited (HnH Ltd.), a private company with links to HOPE Unlimited Charitable Trust (HUCT), a charitable company registered with the Charity Commission under Charity number: 1013880. HnH Ltd. is a registered third party campaign organisation. The Charity Commission took regulatory action in January over connected activities between HUCT and HnH Ltd.

Farage goes on to note that HnH – the political organisation – is “funded almost entirely by grants from HUCT” – the supposedly apolitical charity. He additionally notes that in 2024, HUCT had a total expenditure of £893,701, and that £787,858 of it was directed towards HnH.

HOPE not Hate responds

The response from HnH reads:

HOPE not hate exists to challenge the politics of hate and extremism, and to build resilience against the far right. Our work investigates, exposes, and campaigns against those seeking to divide communities in Britain. We have done this work for over two decades, including helping communities defeat the ugly politics of the BNP, and helping to foil a neo-Nazi murder plot of a sitting MP, and we will continue to scrutinise parties, candidates, and movements that promote racism, intolerance and extremism.

HOPE not hate Ltd is registered as a third-party campaigner and our campaigning work is funded by our supporters. Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust is a separate registered charity. Grants from the Trust are ringfenced for charitable and non-political work, including community engagement, training, and work that helps local communities to challenge hate at a grassroots level. We understand that HUCT has funded a large number of community organisations and anti-racist projects.

These grants are not used to fund electoral campaigning.

Reform UK’s complaint is a transparent attempt to distract from legitimate scrutiny of its candidate in Makerfield, following an investigation published by HOPE not hate last week, which revealed misogynistic and degrading comments he made about women. Reform may not like being scrutinised, but voters deserve to know who is asking for their support. It’s a shame that Nigel Farage has not put as much effort into vetting his own candidates as he has done making spurious complaints to the charity commission.

If the emboldened part is true, HnH will have to demonstrate that the money which comes from HUCT is not used to send letters like the one in question. That, or they’ll have to argue the letter does not constitute “electoral campaigning”. Quite how they’d do that we’re not sure, given the content and timing of the letter.

“Legitimate scrutiny”

Hope not Hate produces good investigative work into the British far-right, and we regularly reference it. At the same time, the group also has ties to prominent British Zionists. Zionism itself is a far-right political ideology, in that it promotes the idea that Israel has the right to exist as expansionist colonial nation that can subject its neighbours to genocide and apartheid. Despite this, British Zionists don’t really appear on HnH’s radar (not for being Zionists, anyway).

The reason this ideology has long enjoyed support in the West is because Israel serves as the US’s foothold in the Middle East. Beyond this, Israeli politicians and backers have spent many years forming ties with Western politicians – often through political donations. The result is that there are many British politicians who seek to portray Israel as a tiny nation which is simply minding its own business. Said politicians pulled the wool over people’s eyes for decades, but then Israel committed a genocide, and the broader public wised up.

On 5 February, Canary contributor Jody McIntyre reported on Morgan McSweeney for the Electronic Intifada. In a section on how McSweeney rose to prominence, McIntyre wrote:

McSweeney’s next political challenge came in East London in between 2008 and 2010, when he worked on public relations for right-wing, pro-Israel lawmaker Margaret Hodge, helping her to retain the parliamentary seat for Barking, against a challenge from the insurgent far-right British National Party.

This campaign was bolstered by HOPE Not Hate, a supposedly anti-racist group which in fact aids Zionism – Israel’s state ideology – and has shadowy ties to Britain’s intelligence agencies. Previous employees at HOPE Not Hate include Ruth Smeeth, a former lawmaker who has been active in Labour Friends of Israel, Jemma Levene, a blogger for The Times of Israel, and Liron Velleman, a pro-Israeli activist and former policy officer for the Jewish Labour Movement, another lobby group. (In 2024, Velleman was forced to resign as a North London councillor under mysterious circumstances. Then last year he pleaded guilty to a series of sex offences against a 13-year-old girl.)

Accountability

We’re very interested to hear what the Charity Commission has to say on this one. And if they decide in HnH’s favour, we expect to see an increase in right-leaning organisations mimicking the same model.

Featured image via Dan Kitwood / Getty Images