Andrew Marr: 'Sad truth' is there are plenty of far-right extremists across Europe - Britain too

7 December 2022, 18:16

The "sad truth" is that there are plenty of far-right extremists across Europe - Britain too, Andrew Marr has said.

Opening LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, the presenter reflected on the arrest of 25 German extremists accused of plotting a coup.

"And now for something completely different," Andrew said.

"More than two dozen German extremists, who long for the return of the German empire around the time of the First World War were arrested this morning by thousands of heavily armed police.

"They are accused of plotting to storm the Reichstag, the German parliament, to overthrow the German state and install an elderly aristocrat, Heinrich the 13th, also known as Prinz Reuss, as the new ruler.

"His family - all the men are apparently called Heinrich – once ruled a tiny splatter of land in Eastern Germany.

"According to the German prosecutors’ office, the plotters 'are firmly convinced that Germany is currently being ruled by members of a so-called deep state…. liberation is promised by the imminent intervention of the Alliance, a technically superior secret Alliance of governments, intelligence services and militaries of various States including Russia and the USA.' 

"Gosh. So what do you make of that? You might think, really?"

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Andrew Marr shares his response to an arrest of 25 German extremists accused of plotting coup

Andrew continued: "This is happening among the Germans, who’ve been so vigorously mocking us, ever since Brexit, for our nutty politics?

"And you might feel a bit of schadenfreude… except of course you can't, because that's their word.

"But then you might well ask, is any of this serious or for real, because it feels like the script for a really bad TV drama.

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"Well, apart from Old Heinrich this is a group with access to weapons which includes serving police officers and special forces soldiers, security officials and at least one judge, as well as a former German MP.

"Germany's domestic intelligence service thinks there are more than 13000 right wing extremists in the country prepared to use violence.

"Some of this week’s plotters apparently tried to to get in touch with the Kremlin for help - they were told, no dice - and many follow the views of the American QAnon cult - you know, that's the one that thinks the world’s run by a secret cabal of satanists who sexually abuse children, and prefer human flesh to French Fries.

"The sad truth is that there are plenty of far-right extremists across Europe and, before we get hoity, even here in Britain too."