Right-wing group unfurl huge ‘white lives matter’ banner on Mam Tor

Last weekend members of Patriotic Alternative - who claim to represent the interests of indigenous UK people - posed in pictures with the emblem from the top of the peak near Castleton.

Photos show over 20 members holding the large poster up while the Union Jack and the Yorkshire flag fly in the background.

In statement on their website deputy leader Laura Towler wrote how 70 ‘patriots’ met up on the day - taking part in various hikes around Edale.

She wrote: “This year, we decided that we’d also take a ‘White Lives Matter’ banner with us, which we’d reveal at the top of the peak.”

The banner display comes after an aircraft towed a banner with the same statement over Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium during a Premier League game with Burnley last month.

Hope Valley councillor Joanna Collins, who saw several members walking past holding the Yorkshire flag on the day, said it was ‘abhorrent to see these people mustering on Mam Tor’.

She said: “This should be a peaceful place where anyone can go to enjoy the countryside.

“White lives matter is not just a harmless statement since it is obviously a response to black lives matter.

“In other words this is an undisguised white supremacist group and we don’t want such extremists around here or anywhere else.

“I can’t speak for BAME people since I am white but I support them fully as people who have been treated badly for centuries.

“Patriotic Alternative may say they are patriots but how can it be patriotic to promote one part of the British population above the others and encourage people to hate their fellows?”

Ms Towler, writing on the Patriotic Alternative website, added that after the hikes the group met up on Saturday evening ‘for a meal and a few drinks at a local pub’.

Derbyshire Police have been contacted however they say they have not received any complaints about the incident.

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