Undercover with the far right: Britain First leader Paul Golding tells supporters he wants country to ‘descend into a nightmare’ while secretly filmed for Channel 4 documentary

The leader of Britain First has been filmed saying he wants the country to ‘become a s***hole’ and ‘descend into a f***ing nightmare’ to ‘get people off their backsides’.

Paul Golding, 42, co-founder of the far-right political organisation, told supporters that ‘society is going to be violent and a horrific place to live’ within a decade.

He made the comments in a pub garden in Folkestone, Kent, with the video filmed on a hidden camera and set to air in a new Channel 4 documentary at 10pm tonight.

‘Undercover: Exposing the Far Right’ follows the anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate carrying out secret investigations into the activities of far-Right groups.

In the clip filmed in July 2023, Mr Golding says: ‘We are pitching ourselves for ten years’ time. In ten years, society is going to be violent and a horrific place to live.

Britain First leader Paul Golding was filmed on a hidden camera for a Channel 4 documentary

Mr Golding made the comments in a pub garden in Folkestone while being filmed in July 2023

‘I’m not interested in appealing to the masses right now. The moment that we’re waiting for is fast approaching. I want this country to become a s***hole.

‘I want this country to descend into a f***ing nightmare, because that’s the only thing that’s going to get people off their backsides.’

The clip was released after the BFI London Film Festival cited safety concerns after it axed a screening of the documentary, due to have taken place over the weekend.

Kristy Matheson, director of the 68th festival, said the programme was ‘exceptional and easily one of the best documentaries I have seen this year’.

But she added that ‘festival workers have the right to feel safe and that their mental health and wellbeing is respected in their workplace’.

The movie, directed by Smash & Grab – The Story Of The Pink Panthers director Havana Marking, follows campaigners from Hope Not Hate, which describes itself as an organisation working to expose and oppose far-right extremism.

Ms Marking called it ‘a very powerful film’, for which she and her team had spent ‘two years following the brave and inspiring work done by Hope not Hate in an extraordinarily febrile time’.

Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope not Hate, who appears in the documentary, said: ‘Safety must always be an utmost priority. 

Paul Golding’s Britain First was founded in 2011 by former British National Party members

‘But we can’t deny that it is disappointing to see the brave work of our staff being denied the widest possible audience.

‘Now, more than ever, the true nature of the far right, in Britain and abroad, needs to be exposed.’

Britain First was founded in 2011 by former members of the British National Party. The party was deregistered in 2017, but then registered again in 2021. 

Channel 4 said it approached Mr Golding with its findings, but he did not respond.

Undercover: Exposing the Far Right will air on Channel 4 at 10pm tonight