The Turning Point Takeover: The Growing Network Bringing Trump's Politics to the UK
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In the six years since its formation, US hard-right group Turning Point has become a fixture on campuses at multiple UK universities.
Using the so-called 'culture war' to promote itself as a "grassroots conservative and free speech activist organisation", TPUK has been the driving force behind a growing network of well-placed political commentators and SpAds dedicated to pushing far-right, Trumpian political views into UK Parliament.
In 2022, it was revealed that a youth group, inspired and educated by TPUK, had secured prominent positions within the Conservative Party with the intent of pushing it further to the Right.
Following the Conservatives' election defeat, many members of the group jumped ship to Reform, while others took up prominent positions in Tufton Street think-tanks. TPUK's other protégés regularly appear in the right-wing press, highlighting the organisation's growing influence on both MPs and those who vote for them.
Their latest offshoot is the Women's Safety Initiative (WSI).
Founded in April by 23 year-old Jess Gill, social media manager for the Objective Standards Institute and a fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education, the WSI appears to be a small organisation created (according to their website) to "expose the dangers of uncontrolled immigration, put women and children first, advocate for victims, and demand real solutions".
Dig a little deeper, however, and their mission and influence become alarmingly clear.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Women's Safety Initiative (@womensafety_uk)
Talking Heads
In the last four months, WSI have amassed more than 65,000 followers across their social media platforms, their spokeswomen are regular guests on GB News and TalkTV, whilst their posts are shared and supported by MP Rupert Lowe and Conservative Councillor Susan Hall.
The WSI's leadership includes two Conservative Party candidates, Grace Turner and Charlotte Whitney-Brown, and Lucy Jayne White, a policy specialist at Tufton Street think-tank, the Centre for Migration Control (CMC).
Gill herself is also a member of the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, a US-based Libertarian women's organisation which is anti-Socialist and pro-Free Market Economy.
Originally a Labour supporter, by 2021, Gill was sharing Instagram videos which showed her campaigning with TPUK. In response to a request for comment, Gill told Byline Times that her "political shift started well before [she] became involved with Turning Point".
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The organisation has a long-standing ideological crusade against the trans community, which has seen them protest Drag Queen Story Hour and falsely claim that children are identifying as cats.
The WSI appears to have started the same way, claiming the Supreme Court's ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex as a "victory".
Later posting a call-out to the rest of the "gender critical" community, Gill urged them to "[speak] up about the dangers of mass immigration".
TPUK's output has changed in the same way, and their social media channels now share call-outs for hotel protests and promote the work of WSI.
In recent interviews, Gill claimed that almost 25% of sexual assaults were committed by "foreign-born men". When we asked her how WSI approaches the other 75% of assaults, she wrote that, "WSI's mission is to protect all women and children, regardless of who the perpetrator is…advocating for tougher sentencing, faster trials, better victim support, and broader cultural change".
Claiming to have begun studying politics at sixteen, Gill said that by the time she got involved with TPUK, she had "already built a ...
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
In the six years since its formation, US hard-right group Turning Point has become a fixture on campuses at multiple UK universities.
Using the so-called 'culture war' to promote itself as a "grassroots conservative and free speech activist organisation", TPUK has been the driving force behind a growing network of well-placed political commentators and SpAds dedicated to pushing far-right, Trumpian political views into UK Parliament.
In 2022, it was revealed that a youth group, inspired and educated by TPUK, had secured prominent positions within the Conservative Party with the intent of pushing it further to the Right.
Following the Conservatives' election defeat, many members of the group jumped ship to Reform, while others took up prominent positions in Tufton Street think-tanks. TPUK's other protégés regularly appear in the right-wing press, highlighting the organisation's growing influence on both MPs and those who vote for them.
Their latest offshoot is the Women's Safety Initiative (WSI).
Founded in April by 23 year-old Jess Gill, social media manager for the Objective Standards Institute and a fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education, the WSI appears to be a small organisation created (according to their website) to "expose the dangers of uncontrolled immigration, put women and children first, advocate for victims, and demand real solutions".
Dig a little deeper, however, and their mission and influence become alarmingly clear.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Women's Safety Initiative (@womensafety_uk)
Talking Heads
In the last four months, WSI have amassed more than 65,000 followers across their social media platforms, their spokeswomen are regular guests on GB News and TalkTV, whilst their posts are shared and supported by MP Rupert Lowe and Conservative Councillor Susan Hall.
The WSI's leadership includes two Conservative Party candidates, Grace Turner and Charlotte Whitney-Brown, and Lucy Jayne White, a policy specialist at Tufton Street think-tank, the Centre for Migration Control (CMC).
Gill herself is also a member of the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, a US-based Libertarian women's organisation which is anti-Socialist and pro-Free Market Economy.
Originally a Labour supporter, by 2021, Gill was sharing Instagram videos which showed her campaigning with TPUK. In response to a request for comment, Gill told Byline Times that her "political shift started well before [she] became involved with Turning Point".
EXCLUSIVE
The Pro-Trump Money Pushing Libertarian 'Young Voices' on British TV
Talent agencies funded by right-wing American fossil fuel billionaires are helping to funnel hard right views onto our TV screens
Olly Haynes
The organisation has a long-standing ideological crusade against the trans community, which has seen them protest Drag Queen Story Hour and falsely claim that children are identifying as cats.
The WSI appears to have started the same way, claiming the Supreme Court's ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex as a "victory".
Later posting a call-out to the rest of the "gender critical" community, Gill urged them to "[speak] up about the dangers of mass immigration".
TPUK's output has changed in the same way, and their social media channels now share call-outs for hotel protests and promote the work of WSI.
In recent interviews, Gill claimed that almost 25% of sexual assaults were committed by "foreign-born men". When we asked her how WSI approaches the other 75% of assaults, she wrote that, "WSI's mission is to protect all women and children, regardless of who the perpetrator is…advocating for tougher sentencing, faster trials, better victim support, and broader cultural change".
Claiming to have begun studying politics at sixteen, Gill said that by the time she got involved with TPUK, she had "already built a ...
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