Inside Britain's secret neo-Nazi network: Ex-National Front spy whose life was made into Netflix drama warns 'it's never been so EASY to be a terrorist in this country'

Daily Mail, UK/February 16, 2025

By Piriyanga Thirunimalan

An ex-National Front member-turned informant whose life was made into a hit TV series has claimed it has 'never been so easy to be a terrorist' in Britain.

Matthew Collins joined the far-right group as a teen growing up in south London during the 1970s and 80s.

But the constant violence he witnessed was 'sickening' and it slowly dawned on him that they 'were not the good guys'.

What followed was an extraordinary journey that saw Collins, who is now head of intelligence at anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate, flip sides at great personal risk to his own safety.

He worked undercover, supplying information to the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight.

However, Collins was eventually exposed and was forced to flee to Australia.

On returning to the UK years later he worked for Hope Not Hate and went on to led a spy network that imprisoned scores of leading far-right figures and helped bring down the British National Party.

But his most notable feat was the takedown of British neo-Nazi terror group National Action, working as a handler of whistleblower Robbie Mullen.

A five-part ITV series called The Walk-In, following the lives of Collins and Mullen, quickly became one of Netflix's top ten programmes after it was added to the streaming platform late last year.

But Collins has warned the reality is far from entertaining.

He told MailOnline: 'What is concerning for me is that so many people reject achieving their desires by the political process and go in search for the extreme actions and solutions.

The ITV drama was recently added to Netflix and is based on Collins's book of the same name. He is played by actor Stephen Graham (pictured)

'We have a real problem with that in this country. People at bursting point whose idea of society is completely warped by lies and disinformation that they feel there is no democratic path to change.

'Of course, there is. But you have to be able to swallow defeat. We don't seem to be able to do that.

But Mullen’s testimony saw the group's leader Christopher Lythgoe, 32, and his right-hand man Matthew Hankinson, 24, jailed.

The pair, who were present when Renshaw outlined his plans, were convicted of membership of the terrorist group.

National Action is the first extreme right-wing group to be proscribed by the Government since the Second World War.

In December 2016, it was banned by the then home secretary Amber Rudd over its support for the murder of Batley and Spen MP Ms Cox.

But the North West contingent continued to meet in pubs and train together at a new mixed martial arts gym in Warrington, it was alleged.

Collins believes former NA members are still meeting in secret.

Asked whether the group still poses any dangers, he said: 'The National Action ideology of 'white jihad' is the concern.

'And I am fairly confident former members are still meeting up.

'In the main, they're far too smart now to be using even the most secure encryption apps because they know better than anyone they can be infiltrated. That's what we did to them.

'Telegram is of course, a place to pick up recruits.'

'If you want to be a terrorist or join a terror gang in this country, it's never been so easy.'

Collins' view has been echoed by executive director of think tank Tech Against Terrorism Adam Hadley, who warned of how easy it is now for young men to find themselves engaging with far-right extremist content.

Speaking about how vulnerable people are being 'groomed' into terrorist groups through social media and messaging platforms, Mr Hadley said: 'A lot of the extreme far right are pumping content online because they want to recruit people.

'People talk about grooming where sexual abuse is concerned, but often with the extreme far right, they're grooming people to become violent.'

The Walk-In, with Line of Duty star Stephen Graham playing Collins, portrayed how Mullen had joined NA before turning on the group and working as a mole for Hope Not Hate.

Mullen secretly contacted the organisation after hearing horrifying plot by neo-Nazi Jack Renshaw to murder Ms Cooper in 2017.

Neo-Nazi paedophile Jack Renshaw (pictured) was jailed for life over a plot to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper. The plot was exposed by whistleblower Robbie Mullen and Collins

Renshaw had purchased a 19-inch replica Roman sword (pictured) to assassinate Ms Cooper, the MP for West Lancashire

Renshaw had purchased a 19-inch replica Roman sword to assassinate the MP for West Lancashire.

He told friends about the murder plot just a year after Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot by a fellow far-right extremist, Thomas Mair.

Renshaw was jailed for life with a minimum of twenty years in May 2019 at the Old Bailey.

The far-right thug had also admitted making a threat to kill detective Victoria Henderson, who had been investigating him for child sex offences.

Renshaw was later convicted of trying to groom two underage boys.

A jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he had remained a member of the National Action after it was banned.

According to Mr Hadley, whose team scour social media to detect extremist content to report, Telegram is the far-right's messaging platform of choice.

He said: 'Where the extreme, violent far right is concerned, they tend to use quite a small number of messaging apps, and historically, Telegram.

'Telegram has been a very big part of how they operate and how they share things.

'But it's not just that. They might use YouTube, they might use they might use WhatsApp.'

Collins, who has helped expose the violent plots of several far-right organisations, says National Action in particular gave rise to 'new ideologies' including Satanism.

He explained: 'They were a breakthrough group in new ideologies; Satanism, child sexual exploitation, rape as a weapon etc.

'Some of those as a core ideology would have been unthinkable in groups like the National Front when I was a member.

'Now it appears the British far-right has a very laissez-faire attitude towards these things.'

MCollins told of how there were three to four 'immediate new incarnations' mimicking NA, but they have since been banned.

Though, he sees neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative as 'little more than a continuity group of National Action'.

'It was co-formed by one of National Action's founders. They have an increasing number of their own members going to prison,' he added.

'It has no interest in constitutional politics. It's little more than a criminal conspiracy.'

Interestingly, he also told of how far-right groups target recruits 'indiscriminately' and don't target people in specific locations or backgrounds.

Collins said Patriotic Action still have plans for establishing 'all-white communities' in areas their members would not be able to afford.

He said: 'They (far-right groups) did, as do Patriotic Alternative, harbour plans to set up all white communities in areas hugely out of their members' price range.'

Explaining how he joined the National Front as a teen, he told of how many people back then would have described themselves as being part of the group if they were held 'racist or anti-immigration' sentiments.

Collins explained: 'I grew up in South London during the 70's and 80's.

'Being 'National Front' was how many people back then would describe themselves if they were a racist or anti - immigration.

'The reality was, by 1987 - when I joined them, the National Front was a tiny disorganised but incredibly violent gang.

'I was desperate to join them - the only problem was finding them. I put hours and hours into just finding them.

'They did however engage in elections and electoral campaigning in an effort to both stay legal and to recruit.

'There was an obsession with the idea that a 'race war' was imminent and that we should be preparing for it.

'After a while I got bored and sickened by the constant violence and it slowly dawned on me, that we were not the good guys.

'We were just a bunch of alcoholic race haters totally detached from society and reality.'

There was one particular event that left him stunned.

On one afternoon in the late 1980s, dozens of his peers, armed with hammers, viciously attacked a group of women protesting at a local library in Welling, South London, over the British National Party's (BNP) decision to open a bookshop in the area.

This, among other worrying scenes of violence, is what turned Collins against what he had initially been so eager to join.

On the backlash following his work, he said: 'I've been receiving death threats for some thirty years.

'They used to come from former friends and 'comrades' - people who have actually commited murders and acts of terrorism.

'But over the last twenty or so years, I have a whole new generation of people sending me threats. It's not easy to ignore or simply 'carry on regardless.'

'National Action had convicted child abusers in their ranks and they claimed they wanted to rape my mother and harm my children.

'That kind of stuff keeps you awake at night.

'After the court cases and visits to the Old Bailey, we had a few incidents that had to be dealt with. My kids obsess about football and music and know nothing about most of what happened.'

The show that brought to light the stories of Collins and Mullen, both of whom had flipped sides after joining far-right groups, was created following Collins' several books which detailed life inside and outside of the neo-Nazi network.

On how it felt to write the books, he said: 'I was convinced that writing Hate, Nazi Terrorist and The Walk-In would in some way be cathartic.

'It wasn't unfortunately.

'But they are a good way of reassessing why I have done what I did and why I do what I do.

'The most often questions I am asked are 'why did you join' and 'why did you leave' the far-right and I find every day a new or another reason.

'In the books I try and argue (politely) that there are ample reasons people join the far right.

'I have also concluded that people never like to hear those reasons that people do join up.

'It makes the middle classes nauseous to hear or read about.

'Sometimes I run into an ex - 'comrade' and they always say 'you could've really been someone...' By this I always assume they mean another stain on society.'

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