Jump to content

Matthew F. Collins

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people named Matthew Collins, see Matthew Collins (disambiguation).
Matthew Collins in 2023

Matthew Collins is an activist and author born in London in 1972.[1] He was a member of several British fascist and neo-Nazi organizations, before starting to work as an informant for an anti-fascist magazine. He later became an activist for anti-fascist and anti-racist campaigns.

Far-right politics and role as informant

[edit]

In his youth, Collins was the South London organizer for the National Front, a volunteer for the British National Party’s head office and a member of the neo-Nazi organization Combat 18.[2]

Collins took part in the Battle of Welling after which he became a paid informant for the anti-fascist Searchlight magazine. Collins was paid in book tokens for his role as an informant.[1] When his role as a Searchlight informant was exposed, Collins went into hiding in Australia

He returned to the UK as the subject of a BBC documentary Dead Man Walking (2004).[1]

In 2012, Collins wrote a memoir of his youth, entitled Hate: My Life in the British Far Right which included a foreword by Billy Bragg.[3]

Hope Not Hate

[edit]

Matthew Collins is currently a researcher and Head of Intelligence for the anti-fascist and anti-racist campaign group Hope Not Hate.[4] Hope Not Hate is described as a non-sectarian, nonpartisan third party organisation.[5] He manages Hope Not Hate's intelligence network.[6]

Collins managed Robbie Mullen, a mole in National Action, in foiling a plot to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper in 2017.[7] In 2019, Matthew Collins wrote his second book, Nazi Terrorist: The Story of National Action with Robbie Mullen,[8] and in 2022, he wrote his third book, The Walk-In: Fascists, Spies & Lies - The True Story Behind the ITV series, with a foreword by political journalist Kevin Maguire associate editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Collins is played by the actor Stephen Graham in the ITV television drama series The Walk-In broadcast in Autumn 2022.[9] He appeared in the documentary Nazi Hunters: The Real Walk-In which was broadcast after the final episode.[10]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Back from the Front: Inside the mind of a reformed UK far-right". The Independent. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  2. ^ Matthew Collins, Hate: My Life in the British Far Right, Biteback Publishing, 2012
  3. ^ Pindar, Ian (14 August 2012). "Hate: My Life in the British Far Right by Matthew Collins – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Matthew Collins | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  5. ^ Anonymous (6 December 2016). "HOPE not hate". Migration and Home Affairs - European Commission. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Our Team". HOPE not hate Charitable Trust. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. ^ Duncan Gardham, Fiona Hamilton, Crime & Security Editor | John Simpson, Crime Correspondent | (19 July 2018). "We faced arrest after revealing plot to kill MP, say anti-fascists". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 1 April 2019. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Matthew Collins, Nazi Terrorist: The Story of National Action, Hope Not Hate Publishing, 2019
  9. ^ "Is The Walk-In A True Story?". HOPE not hate. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Nazi Hunters: The Real Walk-In Episode". Press Centre. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew_F._Collins&oldid=1240987456"