Turning Point UK

Not to be confused with Turning Point (charity).

Turning Point UK
AbbreviationTPointUK
Formation1 February 2019; 5 years ago (2019-02-01)
TypeNonprofit organisation
Location
  • United Kingdom
President
Marco Longhi
Websitetpointuk.co.uk

Turning Point UK (TPUK) is a British offshoot of the American student pressure group Turning Point USA.[1] The UK group was set up to promote right-wing politics in UK schools, colleges and universities, with the stated aim of countering what Turning Point UK alleges are the left-wing politics of UK educational institutions.[2] The close similarity of Turning Point UK's rhetoric and target demographic to that of Generation Identity, a continental European group with racist and Islamophobic intentions, has been noted by scholars of hate studies and the far-right.[3]

Turning Point UK describes its objectives as promoting "the values of free markets, limited government and personal responsibility". It says it does this to counter what it alleges is "a dogmatic left-wing political climate, education system and radical Labour Party" which, Turning Point UK claims, "sympathises with terrorists [and] wishes to disarm the nation".[4]

The group was launched in December 2018[5] by Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, and Candace Owens, then the communications director of the US group,[6] at the Royal Automobile Club in London.[5] On the day of its social media launch in February 2019, Tory MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel tweeted supportive messages for the group.[7][8] Labour MP David Lammy observed that the launch and its Tory support are evidence that the Conservative Party "openly promotes hard-right, xenophobic bile".[9] From its inception, the organisation and its leading members were the subject of widespread popular ridicule. It was described by the BBC as "a tsunami of online mockery".[10][11]

  1. ^ "Tory MPs voice support for new UK branch of 'sinister' right-wing US group". The Independent. 4 February 2019. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  2. ^ "The UK launch of right-wing youth group Turning Point is going about as well as expected". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference AlCuko19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "About - Turning Point UK". Turning Point UK. Borehamwood: Media & Activism Ltd. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cherwell-merwe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference dailydot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian-walker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference thinkprogress was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brown19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference MainBBC19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wired19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).