Pro-Nazi historian moving to 'white' Edinburgh. 

By Phil Miller, Scottish Arts Correspondent. 

28 April 2002
The Sunday Times
English

DAVID IRVING, the historian branded a "right-wing pro-Nazi polemicist"
by a libel-trial judge, is planning a move to Edinburgh because it
reminds him of 1950s London before the arrival of Asian and Caribbean
immigrants. 

Irving, Britain's most infamous Holocaust denier, may lose his £1m home
after being declared bankrupt last month. 

He is facing a costly legal bill after losing his libel action against
Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt, an American historian, two years
ago. 

Irving is considering Edinburgh because he believes the city has fewer
"Arabs and blacks" than London. 

"I have lived in Mayfair off Grosvenor Square for 34 years," he said.
"The whole region is becoming steadily more black, and I predict that
within eight years everything within a mile of Marble Arch will be
totally black or Arab, thanks to the feckless immigration policies of
successive governments. 

"As a free Englishman I do not choose to live in such an area,
particularly if Brixton or Lambeth are to the taken as the future
examples." 

Irving said Scotland has a lack of aggression on the streets, friendly
people, politeness, a slower pace and is less "mercenary" than London. 

"I want to live somewhere where England is still England," he said.
"Edinburgh has a lot of old England about it, if you get my drift." 

Nazi sympathisers have long regarded Scotland, especially the
Highlands, as a haven of Celtic purity. The emergence of another senior
British fascist leader in a small Wester Ross village raised concerns
that neo-Nazis regard Scotland as a retirement home for racists. 

Last week it was revealed that Colin Jordan, the "godfather" of British
fascism, is living in Diabaig, in Wester Ross. 

Jordan, the British National Socialist Movement founder, is fighting
plans for a multi-faith centre in the village. 

Professor Tom Devine of Aberdeen University, the author of The Scottish
Nation, said traditional Celtic imagery, which emphasises loyalty and
honour, is attractive to people holding extreme views. 

"They are attracted to the militarism and clan-based society, the
gloriously romantic picture of a militaristic society geared to
violence," he said. 

Devine said that Irving was guilty of "blatant racism" but was
"demographically correct" as there were fewer black immigrants in
Scotland, although many migrants had come from Ireland, Poland and
Italy. 

In 2000 Irving sued Lipstadt over her book, Denying the Holocaust,
which said he deliberately misinterpreted evidence to minimise Hitler's
role in the Holocaust. 

Gerry Gable, editor of the anti-Nazi watchdog Searchlight, said that
"England's loss will be Scotland's loss" if Irving moved to Edinburgh. 

Sarah Boyack, the MSP for Central Edinburgh, said Irving's views were
"appalling and misinformed". 

"Edinburgh has a proud tradition of welcoming people of all
backgrounds, from Jews escaping the Holocaust to refugees from the
former Yugoslavia. There is a very healthy mix in Edinburgh and it is
something we are proud of," she said. 

(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2002. 

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