Andy Bell

Ex-investigative journalist World In Action, Panorama; ex-editor Searchlight. Retired. PAFC supporter. Blog: Substack: @andybell2000

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

In November 1943, a German plane attacked a British motor torpedo boat, MTB 73, at La Maddelena, on the northern coast of Sardinia. The boat was bombed and sank, two crew members died, and my father, Sam Bell, the boat’s coxswain, was wounded and shipped off to hospital.

Recently, I decided to try to find out more about what exactly happened.

I really wasn’t prepared for what I found.

https://t.co/LBBSYSTwIM

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

On the anniversary of the bombing and destruction of the Basque town of Guernica by the German and Spanish fascists in 1937 it seems an apt moment to share this: these were amongst my mum's things and belonged to her half-brother Alfred Crossing.

It's a book of paintings, scenes from the Spanish Civil War, published in 1936 by the Propaganda Offices of the CNT and FAI (the National Confederation of Workers and the Iberian Anarchist Federation) .

Also a militia cap of the Spanish Republican Navy with an FAI/CNT badge attached.

Alfred was in the Royal Navy and during the Spanish Civil War his ship was involved in maintaining the international arms embargo. It might also have put in to one of the Republican port cities, possibly Barcelona where the book was published, to evacuate UK nationals.

He later died on HMS Gurkha. But somewhere he picked these up, suggesting certainly contact and possibly sympathy with the Republican cause, and in our house they are much treasured.

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

Tommy Robinson has taken time out from his month-long tour of America to remind us that, a year ago, he was in “solitary confinement”.

At the time he was also complaining that his prison regime – he was locked up for contempt of court –  amounted to “mental torture”.

Today he is reflecting that, a year on, it’s been some journey from that to the halls of the US Congress where, this week, he addressed a closed meeting of Republicans.

It was indeed a year ago and, coincidentally, some thoughts which I wrote up at the time popped up in my Facebook memories today.

So here they are again. A timely reminder of what a shameless liar he really is:

"Tommy Robinson doesn’t know the meaning of solitary confinement or ‘mental torture’".

https://t.co/a2SUO609K0

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

The Supreme Court of Belarus has announced that it will begin criminal proceedings against Antanas Gecas, for genocide.

The defendant has been dead for 25 years.

For anyone who followed Searchlight’s investigations in the late 1980s into Nazi war criminals sheltering in Britain, the announcement will ring bells. It certainly did for me.

I was involved when Searchlight first identified Gecas as a war crimes suspect living in Edinburgh, in December 1986. I've written about it here:

https://t.co/AF7swAKEel

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

Brilliant piece from Sam Leith: Trump is heading for a hard reckoning over Iran https://t.co/KFvF6N1hLX

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

A couple of weeks ago we saw a quite remarkable play at Stratford East Theatre in London.

At its heart is a photo album from Auschwitz which was donated to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in the US.

But the pictures were not of prisoners, or violence, or the machinery of murder.

They depicted Auschwitz administrative and secretarial staff relaxing, enjoying themselves, and they set the museum's archivists off on an investigation which revealed some devastating truths.

A true story...

My review, which first appeared in Searchlight:

https://t.co/sI51XQw3zt

[@Searchlightmagazine @Searchlight_mag]

Searchlight, Gerry Gable and 'Maggie’s Militant Tendency' - setting the record straight

In 1984 BBC Panorama made a programme called Maggie’s Militant Tendency, which investigated far-right extremism in the Conservative Party.

It was the subject of successful libel action by Tory MPs Neil Hamilton, Gerald Howarth and others, and led to a major crisis for the BBC. The Director General, Alasdair Milne, lost his job over it.

At the time it was alleged that the BBC was sunk by dodgy evidence provided by Searchlight.

That was completely untrue, and when these allegations appeared in two national newspapers in the wake of the BBC paying damages to settle the case, we soon put a stop to it.

We explained it all in 1986 when the BBC surrendered the action, and Gerry Gable wrote about it in the final print issue of Searchlight last year, reproducing the article and statement we issued at the time.

Unfortunately, some of that earlier, inaccurate, reporting has found it way into recent coverage of Gerry’s death.

So, to finally (hopefully) put the matter to bed, we are reproducing again the earlier article and statement from 1986.

You can read it here:

https://t.co/DPLkGYuGkJ

@uaf @AntiRacismDay

[@Searchlightmagazine @Searchlight_mag]

The local elections next May are widely considered to a crucial electoral test before the 2029 general election.

In Rochdale they may take on an added significance, becoming once again a testing ground for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain.

The party currently holds two seats on the council, and will be looking to build on that.

But it faces difficult questions on two fronts: its elevation once again of the far-right “anti-grooming gang” campaigner Billy Howarth, and George Galloway’s decision to do a runner from the UK and base himself in Malaysia.

Read more here:

https://t.co/xZz4WWHMuu

@uaf @AntiRacismDay

[@Searchlightmagazine @Searchlight_mag]

From the BNP to Brexit - Searchlight surveys the state of the far right as we go into 2026

Read it here:

https://t.co/84kC31HZ5i

[@Searchlightmagazine @Searchlight_mag]

At this month’s International Conference on Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem the Israeli government will provide a platform for far-right activists from racist organisations – some with a history of antisemitism.

It is a fundamental betrayal writes Steve Silver.

Read it here:

https://t.co/vodfTtSdOy

@uaf @AntiRacismDay

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

On this week's edition of The Last Word, Radio 4's obituary programme, I was interviewed about Gerry Gable. You can hear it here:

https://t.co/geaGGfjYyo

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

My obituary for Gerry Gable in the Guardian:

https://t.co/LwnjZc5vmZ

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

I have written an obituary of Gerry Gable for Searchlight. You can read it here. I will be writing a more personal reflection soon.

https://t.co/Zy8lw6GbFv

[@Searchlightmagazine @Searchlight_mag]

Former Welsh Brexit Party MEP and Reform UK official Nathan Gill recently pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to eight counts of taking bribes from Russia for making pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament. He is expected to be jailed.

This is not a fringe political scandal. It is a direct admission that Russian-aligned money penetrated Farage’s immediate orbit during a pivotal chapter in Brexit.

Read more here:

https://t.co/e5HNFnRPAX

@uaf @AntiRacismDay

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

https://t.co/Rpg3YUTApM

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

https://t.co/Rpg3YUT2Ae

[@Searchlightmagazine @Searchlight_mag]

Historic fascist turnout heralds dangerous times

Searchlight's take on yesterday's huge fascist rally in London

https://t.co/lNNyOEm918

@uaf @AntiRacismDay

[Andy Bell @andybell2000]

Trump's Calamitous Crypto Corruption , by @RBReich https://t.co/PIjqS4sGja