How we revealed the First Reform UK pub has ‘long history of supporting neo-Nazi music gigs’

“I’m not racist... but I have to make money somehow”: Inside the rebranded pub and revealing its dark past.

The Talbot in Blackpool, previously a Conservative Association pub Pic: Michael Holmes/The Blackpool Lead

We don’t normally write to you on a Thursday lunchtime but we wanted to share this story which we broke in our mid-week edition of The Blackpool Lead.

At The Lead we’ve been publishing consistently about what’s happening in the town since January last year and thousands of people rely on our reporting every Wednesday and Sunday to keep informed about Blackpool’s politics and issues there. We are also committed, alongside providing rigorous local journalism, to exposing the hypocrisy of the Reform party – with our ReformWatch feature every Saturday.

Read on for how what appeared to be a jovial rebrand of a former Tory association pub to the jaunty sky blue colours of Reform has much darker undertones, and the sinister activities of a pub we’ve been reporting on since last year, as Michael Holmes reports…

Bosses at Reform’s first pub – at a former Conservative club in Blackpool – said they only accidentally agreed to host a two-day neo-Nazi gig.

Meanwhile, one of The Talbot’s co-owners has also defended having a house in Spain – despite his venue in Milbourne Street in the town centre, which has been painted bright blue, displaying the anti-immigration party’s logos outside.

While chiefs at the venue have said “everybody and anyone is welcome” and insist there is “no racism here”, they have also joked about serving “pints of Remainer tears” and the resort’s “best gammon” – an apparent reference to the slur typically used against white, middle-aged men whose politics lean to the right.

And last August, The Talbot was due to host a neo-Nazi concert that was only axed after campaign group Hope Not Hate reported on it.

The event, dubbed the Real Rebellion, was being organised by Britain’s most prominent Nazi music promoter Chad Charles, The Blackpool Lead reported previously.

Speaking at the time, Talbot co-owner Nick Lowe said: “It’s nowt to do with me, I just rent the room out.

“I’m not racist at all but I have to make money somehow.”

But Hope Not Hate’s director of campaigns Georgie Laming said: “The Talbot in Blackpool has a long history of supporting neo-Nazi music gigs organised by the Blood & Honour Network.

“In 2024, Hope Not Hate worked with local residents to clearly say that Nazis weren’t welcome in Blackpool.

“So if the local community are against it, why would Reform UK associate with a pub like this?

“Reform UK can deny their extremism but this speaks volumes.”

Hope Not Hate exposed Charles’ plans to run the gig, earmarked to bring in between £8,000 and £12,000, as well as running a Nazi merchandise business while claiming benefits.

Charles cancelled the gig hours after an investigation was published.

The Real Rebellion had cropped up intermittently at The Talbot on the same weekend as Rebellion for about a decade, providing an extreme-right alternative to the family-friendly punk festival at the Winter Gardens.

Among the bands set to play the Real Rebellion last year were the Canadian band Battlefront, which described itself as “nationalist skinhead”.

Its album, In The Storm, has a German soldier throwing a hand grenade on the cover and includes songs such as Aryan Soldiers, Pride Is Our Will and String ‘Em Up.

Another band, Combat BC from Germany, was likely to be accompanied to Blackpool by “a sizeable contingent of German Nazi skinheads”, according to the Hope Not Hate report.

Those earmarked for the Real Rebellion also included London Breed, whose band members are veteran Nazis, and Code One, an openly Nazi band long associated with Blood & Honour – a neo-Nazi music promotion network and right-wing extremist political group.

The Rebellion Punk Music Fest Group on Facebook reacted to news of the rebrand by posting: “Absolutely no surprise about the Talbot becoming a ‘Reform UK’ pub.”

It added: “Fuck anyone going there after Rebellion and thinking they’re punks. Rightwing, conservative and Tory bullshit is NEVER punk. Racism, anti-LGBT+ and antimigrant sentiment is also never punk.

“Fuck Reform, fuck the Talbot.”

Rebellion festival director Jennie Russell-Smith had warned neo-Nazis not to turn up to the punk music event, saying people of all political leanings attend each year and “leave their politics at the door”.

But she said neo-Nazis and “mindless hatred” would not be tolerated.

Punks attending the Rebellion festival at the Winter Gardens last year violently clashed in the streets with anti-immigration protesters who rampaged through the town centre and gathered outside The Metropole hotel, which is housing asylum seekers.

A melee in St John’s Square saw one punk's skull broken, while a stand-off outside the town hall in Talbot Square saw Rebellion revellers respond to chants of “stop the boats” and “oh, Tommy Robinson” with verbal volleys of “Nazi scum off our streets.”

A number of arrests were made, with several men jailed for rioting.

“They never had swastikas on the wall”

Bosses at The Talbot have in recent days been speaking to the local and national media about the rebrand, with Lowe’s fellow co-owner Peter Flynn saying both he and his business partner are Reform members and were happy to make the switch.

“We love (former Ukip and current Reform) leader Nigel Farage so it’s fantastic,” Flynn said.

Speaking to GB News, Flynn promised the rebranded venue will not be a “den for racists” or exclusive to members of Reform.

He said: “If (former Labour leader) Jeremy Corbyn walked in, he would have to have his picture taken and he’d be charged twice the price.

“But on a serious point: there’s no racism here, I can assure you (of) that. We’re just positive. Everybody and anyone is welcome. If you want a side order of politics with your pint, I’m happy to help.”

But he spoke out against immigration in comments cited by The Gazette, although he appeared to conflate the help given to asylum seekers arriving in the UK with Spain’s rules for standard migration – two separate and distinct processes.

He also admitted to having a home in the Mediterranean country, where there has been a growing anti-tourism sentiment recently, with Spaniards protesting in the streets against foreign visitors.

“In the UK, here we dangle a gold carrot,” he claimed. “When or if you come to this country and get in, you are given a free bed, free money, free heating, free food.

“I have a house in Spain and you have to give them medical insurance because you can’t be a drain on their social services. You’ve got to prove that you’ve got the funds for five years or get a job before they allow you in.”

Asked about the pub’s ties with neo-Nazi groups, Flynn told The Blackpool Lead: “Can I put a stop to that? It was the punk weekend. They hired out the conference room. They said, ‘We have a band.’ I thought nothing of it.

“They were all over 40 – solicitors and magistrates but dressed up as punks.

“I had never heard of the band. We knew nothing about it. If we knew about it, it would never have happened.

“They never had swastikas on the wall or any dodgy salutes. We are not, under any circumstances, racist or fascist.”

Asked about his holiday home in Spain and how that compares to running a Reform pub, Flynn said: “I’m a pro-lawful immigration person. I’m for it.

“I had a heart attack at 44 and I was looked after by nurses not native to our country. I’m grateful and thankful. The only thing I’m against is illegal people coming to this country. That’s as far as I see the Reform policy.

“We don’t want a labourer, we have enough of them. If you are skilled and bring a benefit to this country, get here.”

The pub’s high-profile rebrand, which has attracted headlines in the national media and led to interviews on GB News and LBC, comes after Reform took control of Lancashire County Council and pushed Labour’s Chris Webb in Blackpool South during the last general election.

While it finished second in that race, it came third in Blackpool North and Fleetwood, with ousted Tory MP Paul Maynard the runner-up behind Labour’s winner Lorraine Beavers.

The Talbot’s rebrand looks to be part of a push by Reform to build a physical presence, with a senior party source telling The Spectator the resort venue is “the first of many” clubs in the country.

They said: “First we replaced the Tories … at the local elections. Now we are replacing their clubs, too.

“Reform UK is more than just a political party, it’s a movement and this is just the beginning.”

Reform did not respond to The Blackpool Lead’s request for comment.

Dr Stephen Meredith, a political expert at the University of Central Lancashire’s school of psychology and humanities, said pubs were traditionally a “meeting place for political groups and organisations, particularly smaller and peripheral groups of the fringe (and far left)”.

He told The Blackpool Lead: “I suppose they have always been available and used as a meeting place for local party campaigning, etc, as they are indeed ‘local’, convenient and a key part of popular culture.

“Even the fashion for focus group campaign popularised by ‘New’ Labour and very much the fashion in the first decade of the 21st century would utilise pubs for these reasons of being intimate and popular environments for small group campaigning.”

Meredith continued: “So I suppose there is a history and tradition of the pub in this context, but in more recent times and certainly in relation to major national party campaigning it would be much less of a thing.

“But in other respects, the Reform initiative isn’t that surprising as a strategic ‘populist’ move when you consider location and the particular constituencies and electorate it is seeking to appeal to (and I suppose Lancashire and Blackpool would provide an ideal starting point for it to develop its avowed aim of attacking and challenging both Tories and Labour).”

Outlining its policies on its website, Reform said it would freeze non-essential immigration, stop small boats crossing the Channel from France with “illegal immigrants” on board, detain all illegal immigrants, immediately deport foreign criminals, ban student dependents, crackdown on health tourism and immediate access to benefits for immigrants and hike the national insurance rate for foreigners.

How has Blackpool reacted?

Lowe and Flynn took over The Talbot in 2019, when it stopped being a Conservative club.

Both men joined Reform in recent months, with their venue holding party meetings before they started considering a formal partnership.

Flynn, a former Conservative voter, told The Blackpool Lead he later met Farage and told him: “We have decided to go for it. We are going to be the first Reform pub in the world.

“He said, ‘In that case, I will be back up to see you’.”

Talbot co-owner Lowe told LBC: “I believe in Reform’s policies and I’ve had enough of the other parties not doing what they say, so I’m going to give Reform all the support they possibly can get.”

He added: “Things have got to change in this country because if they don’t we’re not going to be here, are we? Everyone’s fed up with what’s going on. I mean, I’ve seen this area change so much.”

He said the reaction from punters to the rebrand has been “90% good” but accepts there has been “10% of disappointment”.

“But I reckon they’ll come around,” he said. “It is a pub for everybody.”

The rebrand has been met by cynicism online, with some Facebook users making fun of Reform UK Blackpool’s page for misspelling the pub’s name.

One man wrote: “No surprise it’s in the shittest part of Blackpool.”

Another said: “Bet there’s loads of gammon on the food menu.”

And a third added: “When do the ‘we serve white customers only’ signs go up?”

But there has been some support, too.

“I’ll have a pint of far-left tears please! With a shot of bitter,” one user said.

A second wrote: “Two pints of remainer’s tears please and a bag of plain crisps.”

And a third said: “Can’t wait to get down from Scotland for a drink we’ll (sic) done lads.”

Two pints for £6 is the going rate at The Talbot Pic: Michael Holmes/The Blackpool Lead

A video shared by Mark Butcher, the Reform candidate who finished second to Webb at the last general election, showed him looking around the outside of the pub.

Narrating over a clip posted to Facebook, he said: “A bit of painting done. All the signs are in, look. All in the Reform colours. We have the flags to go on next week. But as you can see, there it is, the very first one in the country. It’s The Talbot Reform Club, folks.”

Butcher told The Gazette: “We’re not just here to talk politics, we’re here to bring people together. There’s no elitism here, just good beer, honest discussion and straight-talking.”

Reform romped to victory in Lancashire in the local elections earlier this month, ousting the Tories after eight years.

The Labour-run Blackpool Council is a unitary authority and was not due to hold any local elections this year.

The county council is now controlled by a 53-strong group of newly elected Reform county councillors, headed by former Ribble Valley Council leader Stephen Atkinson, who was a Conservative until defecting to Farage’s party two months ago.

Speaking to The Blackpool Lead to mark a year as an MP recently, Webb, whose constituency hosts The Talbot, was asked about Reform’s rise in popularity.

“In Blackpool, we don’t suffer fools lightly,” he said, suggesting that people in the town “want action but we want to see that passion and that that individual will take them forward”.

He said: (Reform in Lancashire) have now got to deliver in a way they’ve never had to deliver.

“It’s easy saying you’ll do all these fantastic things. Now they’ve got to manage services. They’ve got to implement that and it’s how they do that.”

He added: “Some of their pledges are going to be incredibly tough. The public will hold them to account just as they’ve held us.” ■

About the author: Michael Holmes is an award-winning journalist living near Blackpool whose previous roles include investigative reporter, news editor and production editor in the regional and national media

At The Lead, we don’t just do this kind of reporting in Blackpool, at The Lead North we have titles and journalists in Lancashire, Calderdale, Southport and Teesside going under the surface of the people and places which make these places tick – and exposing how policy both nationally and locally affects people’s lives. We have a commitment to getting outside the London and Westminster bubble and bringing you real people and real stories direct to your inbox – and then we showcase these in our national edition reaching tens of thousands of inboxes each week. Support our mission for rigorous in-depth local journalism beyond a quick headline on a political party rebranding a pub by becoming a paid subscriber to The Lead.