Determined, Dangerous, Deceitful - Inside the Far-Right Networks Exposed by Year of the Rat.

Why Harry Shukman’s undercover work should shake Britain awake.

Harry Shukman’s Year of the Rat was released back in May, but given the pace of Britain’s political decay this summer, now feels like the perfect moment to reflect on what it exposes. This is not just a book review. It is my reaction to what I believe is one of the most important political investigations of the past decade.

Far-right politics in Britain is too often discussed as if it were someone else’s problem. Commentators speak of extremism as a threat still forming somewhere beyond the mainstream. Year of the Rat demolishes that illusion. Shukman takes us deep inside the far right and forces us to understand that the danger has already slipped into the bloodstream of British political life.

Working with Hope Not Hate, Shukman spent more than a year undercover as “Chris”, using a hidden lapel camera while infiltrating several far-right organisations. His bravery cannot be overstated. With Jewish family roots reaching back to those who fled Nazism and the Russian Pale, he chose to embed himself in a world riddled with antisemitism, Holocaust denial and conspiracy. He bought drinks in pubs full of men ranting about demographic wars. He travelled with Britain First on canvassing missions. He sat through race science lectures that preached white superiority. He even attended a neo-Nazi conference in Estonia packed with international extremists funded by American tech money. In a world obsessed with operational security, he survived multiple near misses and dodged exposure by inches.

The book is written not as a timeline but as a web. Groups, individuals and ideas overlap. Basketweaver Telegram chats cross over with right-wing think tanks. Street movements merge with backroom intellectuals. That is the core lesson here. The British far right is not fringe or disconnected from mainstream power. It is a network, quietly influencing, fundraising and grooming its way across British politics.

That is why Year of the Rat should terrify anyone who believes democracy is safe. The rise of Reform UK has dragged the Overton Window, the boundary of what is seen as politically acceptable, sharply to the right. Conservatives, desperate to cling to relevance, have eagerly followed. Worse still, Labour now echoes this language too, chasing votes with talk of “stopping the boats” and adopting a posture on immigration that panders to the same resentments the far right has spent years cultivating.

One of the most revealing elements of Year of the Rat is the loneliness Shukman finds at the heart of the movement. Many of the young men drifting into the far right are not hardened ideologues. They are isolated, anxious, resentful about their place in life and searching for a sense of belonging. They spend long hours on YouTube, TikTok and niche forums watching the same streams of conspiratorial content, absorbing algorithms that edge them deeper into radical beliefs. When Shukman meets them in person, many speak less about ideology than about boredom, job dissatisfaction and failed friendships. Far-right leaders understand this vulnerability and use it. They sell companionship before they sell hate. They offer a club, a pint, a mate to chat to. Once inside, they present racist propaganda not as hatred but as truth that only the brave are willing to face.

Shukman records how leadership figures then mock these same men behind their backs at conferences and back-room gatherings. He watches as men with expensive educations and heavy egos refer to their own followers as “useful idiots”. Fuelled by bravado, alcohol and an obsession with influence, these leaders see politics as theatre and fame as the prize. Ideology is almost secondary, they want to be known, quoted, feared or retweeted. The young men sliding into radicalism are simply their ammunition, Shukman’s disgust at this hypocrisy is palpable, it is not the rage of the disillusioned that truly unsettles him, but the cold cynicism of those pulling their strings.

Shukman does not pretend his methods were pure. He had to nod along with vile jokes, hand money to extremists and build friendships he knew he would betray. He writes honestly about the emotional toll, about the sickening mix of disgust and guilt that came from being accepted by people whose ideas he despised. Importantly, he recognises that many of the foot soldiers of the far right are not cartoon villains, but lonely and lost individuals preyed upon by smarter, crueler operators. This is not a book that strips extremists of their humanity. Instead, it strips their leaders of their masks.

The chapter on eugenics should be compulsory reading. It reveals how race science has returned under coded language like “human biodiversity”, pushed not by thugs in bomber jackets but by well-spoken men in expensive suits, running shell companies and pushing glossy magazines read by advisers inside Whitehall. One boasts of writing policy ideas for Downing Street. Another dreams of forced deportations. These men are not hiding. They are networking, fundraising and speaking freely, thrilled by the collapse of old taboos.

Shukman’s work lands hard in the wake of the 2024 riots. Those riots were not spontaneous eruptions of anger, they were downstream outcomes of years of organising. Britain First are more dangerous than many assume. Reform UK are not harmless protest voters. The Conservative Party is not a separate species. Together they have helped nurture an environment in which once extreme ideas are now mainstream.

Year of the Rat is not light reading, but it is vital. Harry Shukman has done something few of us would dare attempt. He embedded himself in darkness so that we could see it clearly. He is courageous, meticulous and unsentimental. By choosing to write in plain language rather than melodrama, he makes the horror land even harder. These people do not operate in secret bunkers. They wear suits, write articles and whisper softly in the ears of power.

If you care about where this country is heading, read this book. Then, recognise that Shukman has handed us a gift: knowledge, evidence and proof. The only question that matters now is what we do with it.

Buy it via Hope Not Hate: https://hopenothate.bigcartel.com/product/year-of-the-rat