Right-wing ‘English nationalist’ loses discrimination case after being sacked by Open University in Milton Keynes over tweet to Star Wars actor

An Open University worker sacked for making a racist tweet about famous Star Wars actor John Boyega has lost his battle to claim he was discriminated against.

Alec Cave had to leave his project coordinator job at the OU in Milton Keynes in 2020 after he wrote a Twitter post to Mr Boyega saying: 'Why does a person who speaks and acts like a foreigner expect to be treated the same as an Englishman in England? The entitlement of these people.'

He launched a costly legal battle, taking the Open University to an employment tribunal to claim they had discriminated against him because his far-right views were his 'philosophical belief'.

Cave is a member of nationalist group Homeland, created by Kenny Smith, former organiser of the fascist outfit Patriotic Alternative.

Online, he has used an alias name to make controversial broadcasts for the right-wing YouTube channel Renew Britannia, the tribunal heard. He has been described as a ‘rising star of the movement’ by anti-racism group Hope Not Hate.

Cave’s case for discrimination was last week dismissed by Cambridge employment tribunal judge Isabel Manley.

The former OU worker had described his general philosophy to the tribunal as “right wing, anti-egalitarian and liberal on some things”, but said he generally takes the ‘traditionalist’ stance on most issues”.

The tribunal papers state: “He went on the describe himself as “English Nationalist”. He stated that he believed that mass immigration has been “destructive and unhealthy” and there is a “pernicious ideology” which inflicts white guilt on people of “white European descent”.

Judge Manley, however, said his views were so extreme that they were 'akin to Nazism' and 'incompatible with human dignity'.

She said: “His unequivocal belief that those who are black or Jewish are not part of the English nation, for example, patently seriously discriminates against people within those groups.

“Arguing that people without the ancestry as described by Cave are not part of this nation, to the extent that they should 'go home' is a destruction of their rights. This is not just a belief that is shocking, offensive or disturbing to others... It is a belief that, in at least some respects, is akin to Nazism.”

You can read the judge’s full report here.