Neo-Nazis celebrate Hitler's birthday in Oldham pub
Neo-Nazis have celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday at a UK pub, shocking locals and staff who later reported the incident to police. According to the Manchester Evening News, members of the British Movement, a fringe far-right group, gathered at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Royton, Oldham, last Saturday. Staff at the pub said they were unaware of the group’s presence at the time.
Pictures posted by the group on their Telegram show members posing with Nazi flags and a cake decorated with a swastika. One photo even showed a digitally altered image of Hitler next to the men, whose faces had been pixelated. In video footage obtained by the Manchester Evening News, the group can be seen unfurling flags and posing for photographs before quickly hiding the banners away. One man, wearing a Germany football shirt with 'Fuhrer 44' printed on the back, appeared to perform a Nazi salute.
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British Movement pose with a Nazi flag and digitally added Hitler in the pub. (Image: British Movement)
The group holding a British Movement flag. (Image: British Movement)
A caption posted by the British Movement read: "On a gorgeous sunny afternoon in Greater Manchester, a platoon of Northwest British Movement met up to celebrate the 136th Birthday of Uncle A."
The post added: "It certainly didn't take long for the dimly lit interior of the Oldham boozer to be filled with the warm laughter of comrades old and new."
The pub’s incoming landlady, Jean Anderson, said she was furious about the incident.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "We didn't see anything until it was posted online. We thought it was a birthday party. They definitely won't be coming in here again."
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The group gathered at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Royton, Oldham. (Image: MEN)
Terry English, who currently runs the pub, added: "They were sneaky. We didn't see anything until we saw the pictures. I just can't understand why they picked this pub."
A spokesperson for Craft Union Pubs, which runs the Duke of Edinburgh, said: "We are absolutely appalled at what took place.
“We do not and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, and these people aren't welcome in any of our venues."
They confirmed the incident was immediately reported to police.
The group had a cake decorated with a swastika. (Image: British Movement)
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Greater Manchester Police said they are investigating after a report was made on Wednesday, April 23, regarding individuals attending a pub with Nazi memorabilia on April 20.
Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton MP Jim McMahon described the gathering as "a disgraceful insult to the memory of the nearly 100 local men who died fighting Nazism."
He added: "Glorifying an ideology responsible for the deaths of millions has no place in our community."
David Lawrence, senior researcher at Hope not Hate, called the British Movement "a highly fringe Nazi group that is repulsive even by the standards of the far right."
He said the group is "a tiny collection of crank Hitler fetishists and washed-up hooligans."
Membership of the British Movement is not currently illegal.
