The Formation of NA and its Early Activities
National Action (NA) was founded in 2013 in the United Kingdom by two far-right individuals, Alex Davies and Benjamin Raymond. Both men had been involved with several far-right groups in the United Kingdom before meeting online through their association with the Integralist Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (IP), a small, extreme right-wing party. Although the exact details of the group’s founding are unclear, according to Graham Macklin, an expert on British extremism, “IP was politically insignificant in itself, but served as an organizational and ideological crucible for the formation of NA.”[2]
Davies and Raymond created NA at a time when the British far-right was in decline.[3] Notably, two of the most prominent groups within the British far-right—the British National Party (BNP), a fascist political party, and the English Defence League (EDL), an anti-Muslim group—were “on the verge of collapse.”[4] For Davies and Raymond, the BNP and EDL were “inherently flawed,” in that they did not openly support white nationalism or anti-Semitism and had supporters that routinely engaged in “drunken and loutish behavior.”[5] Raymond was also dismayed by the lack of strong leadership that he believed characterized both groups.[6] In response to these perceived flaws, Davies and Raymond established National Action in 2013 as a “better organised and more disciplined” far-right group for young people who shared their extreme views.[7] At the time of the group’s founding, Raymond was a recent politics graduate of the University of Essex, while Davies was a first-year philosophy student at the University of Warwick.[8]
From the outset, NA sought to differentiate itself from the rest of the British far-right. Ideologically, unlike the BNP and EDL, whose ire “had largely been directed at Muslims,” NA was overtly racist and anti-Semitic, focusing much of its attention on non-white people and Jewish people.[9] The group was heavily influenced by Nazism and openly celebrated Hitler and the Third Reich.[10] Its logo, for example, was based on the symbol of the Sturmabteilung, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party.[11] As reflected by the group’s rhetoric, the primary objective of National Action was to “cleanse Britain of parasites [i.e., Jews and non-whites]” and establish a “white Britain.”[12]
NA also differentiated itself from other groups within the British far-right by appealing directly to young people. In a statement posted to its website, the group explained, “National Action is primarily intended for the youth. The youth are the key to the future.”[13] Young men were a particular focus of the group, although it also sought to recruit young women.[14] Moreover, while there were no specific educational requirements for becoming a member, the group focused on recruiting those with a university education. In doing so, the group aimed to build an organization that was, in its words, “respectable, militant, well-organized, and radical and that doesn’t constantly embarrass itself or give it’s [sic] enemies ammunition to attack it with due to their own stupidity and lack of foresight.”[15] For that same reason, National Action required its members to “refrain from drinking and taking drugs,” a prohibition that further distinguished it from other British far-right groups.[16]
In order to attract a youth demographic, the group’s early activities were conducted largely on university campuses across the United Kingdom, including at Durham, York, Leicester, and Nottingham Trent universities.[17] Such activities included leafleting, banner drops, and flash demonstrations.[18] According to Dr. Paul Jackson, a professor of history at the University of Northampton in the United Kingdom and an expert on the far-right, the group’s “intrusion of campuses began in January 2014, when National Action members disrupted a seminar held at Warwick University.”[19] Entitled “Deciphering Capital: Marx’s Capital and its Destiny,” the seminar was given by Professor Alex Callinicos, an academic from King’s College London who had been involved with the far-left Socialist Workers Party.[20] Despite NA’s disruption, the seminar proceeded as planned.
In addition to targeting college campuses, National Action also created a distinct aesthetic style to attract young people. In its “Strategy and Promotion” guide, published in September 2013, NA explained the group’s rationale behind developing such a style: “Part of raising the social status of nationalism is going to be providing a look – a style that is fashionable, but we own and is associated with us ... Right now our name is to somehow become chic – we have a limited audience, but we want them to have something they can wear which doesn’t embarrass them, but makes them feel proud to represent.”[21] Accordingly, at its public events, NA members dressed in a uniform that consisted of black streetwear, sunglasses, and skull masks.[22]
Another way in which the group attempted to “capture a youthful profile” was through the propaganda it disseminated on its website and social media.[23] Taking the form of highly stylized videos, memes, and other graphics, NA’s propaganda often depicted the group’s demonstrations and appealed directly to a youth demographic.[24] For example, one image posted to its website showed “a group of Nike-wearing activists alongside the Nike swoosh and ‘Just Do It’ slogan.”[25]Along with its distinct uniform, NA’s compelling propaganda “proved to be fantastic recruiting tools for as many as 150 young men (and a handful of women) who were drawn to the group” from 2013, when it was founded, to 2016, when it was formally outlawed by the British government.[26]
National Action In The Headlines
From its focus on university campuses, National Action subsequently “turned to organizing aggressive publicity stunts and city-centre demonstrations” in a bid to raise its public profile.[27] National Action first gained significant attention in August 2014 when National Action member Garron Helm launched “an anti-Semitic ‘trolling’ campaign” against the Jewish Labour Member of Parliament Luciana Berger.[28] Helm received a four-week jail sentence for tweeting a picture of Berger “with a Holocaust yellow star superimposed on her forehead, with the hashtag ‘Hitler was right.’”[29] The day after Helm was released, eight NA members were arrested while demonstrating outside of Berger’s office.[30] In response to the arrests, Helm wrote on Facebook: “Make no mistake, my imprisonment was the beginning of a long and bloody campaign against our movement and will of the British people. You need to be vigilant from now on. If you even remotely associate yourself with NA you will be monitored by Special Branch.”[31]
National Action again made headlines in January 2015 when Zack Davies attempted to murder Dr. Sarandev Bhambra Sandip, a Sikh dentist, with a claw hammer and a machete outside a supermarket in Mold, Wales, while shouting “white power.”[32] The victim survived thanks to a bystander who stepped in and stopped Davies.[33] Davies testified in court that he was a member of National Action, and just hours before the attack, he had posted an image of himself with a large knife and the flag of NA.[34] However, in an interview with BBC News, NA’s leader Benjamin Raymond, stated that Davies was “absolutely not” affiliated with NA.[35] Davies had been active on Iron March, a “Moscow-based international network that promotes race war,” using the name “Rockerz88.”[36] Davies was later found guilty of attempting to murder Bhambra and sentenced to life in prison.[37]
Several months after the attack, NA organized its first large-scale event on March 21, 2015, in the English city of Newcastle upon Tyne. There, National Action held a “White Man March” that was attended by an estimated 100 people from various British neo-Nazi groups, including National Action, the National Front, and the British Movement.[38]During the march, the protesters chanted racist slogans, such as "Sieg Heil!" and "White power!" They also carried banners with similarly racist slogans like "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children."[39] One National Action member, Matthew Hankinson, delivered a speech in which he warned of an imminent race war and called for “race traitors” to be hanged from lampposts.[40] An “equal number of anti-fascists” showed up to counter the demonstration.[41] Police arrested nine people.[42]
Several months later, in August 2015, National Action set out to hold a second “White Man March” in Liverpool, England.[43] Prior to the march, NA had sent a letter to the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, in which the group threatened that the city would “go up in flames” if he banned the march.[44] About fifty NA members showed up. NA ultimately called off the march following strong opposition from the roughly 200 to 300 anti-fascist counter-protestors, who pelted the neo-Nazis with water bottles, eggs, and bananas and forced them to take cover in a lost baggage facility of a train station.[45] Over the course of the day, six people were arrested.[46]
An additional stunt that attracted widespread attention was NA’s launch of an “investigative journalism” series called “Paedo Hunting.”[47] On its website, the group said the series was aimed at “confronting men who are seeking sex with underage girls.”[48] On May 21, 2016, NA posted its first video to YouTube in which one of its members accosted “a young Asian man about text messages he had supposedly exchanged with a 13-year-old girl.”[49] One day later, YouTube removed the video, however, it had already been circulated on several other video sharing platforms.[50] National Action’s focus on pedophilia was “ironic” considering that one of its own members, Ryan Fleming, was a convicted sex offender. Specifically, in 2012, Fleming was jailed for twenty-two months for falsely imprisoning a young boy and sexually abusing him.[51] Several years later, in 2017, he was jailed for three years for “sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he met on Facebook.”[52] In 2021, Fleming was jailed for a third time for messaging young teenagers on Instagram and thereby breaching his sexual harm prevention order.[53]
Celebration of MP’s Murder and Proscription
On June 16, 2016, Thomas Mair, a white nationalist “obsessed with Nazis and extreme right-wing ideology,” murdered the British politician Jo Cox on a street in broad daylight.[54] During the attack, Mair shot Cox three times and stabbed her repeatedly while saying: “This is for Britain,” “keep Britain independent,” and “Britain first.”[55] Cox, who was a Labour Member of Parliament, died later that day in the back of an ambulance.[56]
In the aftermath of the attack, National Action glorified Mair, who had no direct relation to NA, as a hero.[57] On the day of Cox’s attack, an official National Action Twitter account posted: “Only 649 MPs to go #WhiteJihad #ChurchillAkbar #BritainFirst #NationalAction #DayofTheRope."[58] The same account also tweeted a photo of Mair with the words, “#VoteLeave, don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain. #Jo Cox would have filled Yorkshire with more subhumans!”[59]During his appearance in court, Mair gave his name as “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”[60] NA subsequently adopted this phrase as its slogan, which was displayed prominently on its website.[61] In November 2016, Mair was convicted of killing Cox and sentenced to life in prison.[62]
Following the attack, British police became “increasingly concerned by the numbers of young people either involved with the group directly or within its wider orbit.”[63] As a result, during the course of 2016, they arrested twenty-two NA members.[64] This figure included Jack Coulson, a 17-year-old who, on the day that Mair murdered Jo Cox, proclaimed on social media that “[Mair’s] a hero, we need more people like him to butcher the race traitors."[65]
The month after Cox’s murder, on December 12, 2016, the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announced she would proscribe, or officially ban, NA as a terrorist organization under the Terrorism Act 2000 “following an assessment that it was ‘concerned with terrorism.’”[66] In the United Kingdom, proscription refers to a legal instrument that outlaws a listed organization and “ensure[s] that it is unable to operate in the UK.”[67] Once an organization is proscribed, remaining a member of or inviting support for it becomes a criminal offense punishable by up to fourteen years in prison.[68]Proscription also makes it illegal to wear clothing associated with the group and to carry or wear items that display its symbols or logos.[69] Four days after Rudd’s announcement, the ban came into effect, making NA the first far-right group to be proscribed since World War Two.[70] According to Graham Macklin, “[w]hile commentators cited Mair’s killing of Jo Cox as the reason for the ban, considerations for the group’s proscription were already in motion prior to this event.”[71] In explaining the government’s rationale, Rudd emphasized the group’s “vile ideology,” which “stirs up hatred” and “glorifies violence.”[72] Rudd also highlighted that proscription would decrease the group’s appeal, saying, “Proscribing [National Action] will prevent its membership from growing, stop the spread of poisonous propaganda and protect vulnerable young people at risk of radicalisation from its toxic views.”[73]
NA Following Proscription
Despite being proscribed, National Action did not disband. Prior to the group’s formal proscription, Raymond and Davies held a secure conference call with their regional organizers to chart NA’s path forward.[74] Christopher Lythgoe, a leader for the northwest branch of National Action, “urged defiance,” writing in emails to other members: “Long term we’ll keep moving forward just as we have been,” and “We’re just shedding one skin for another.”[75] It was around this time that Lythgoe assumed leadership of NA. According to whistleblower Robbie Mullen, a former National Action member, Lythgoe took the group “underground” after its proscription and continued to hold meetings with the “same place, same people, [and] same purpose.”[76] Lythgoe also operated a private gym for “violent training sessions,” which were attended by NA members, at an abandoned warehouse in northwestern England.[77] He was arrested in September 2017 in connection with a police investigation into a plot to murder the British lawmaker Rosie Cooper.[78] In 2018, Lythgoe was found guilty of being a member of National Action and sentenced to eight years in prison.[79]
Another NA member, Alex Deakin, who ran the West Midlands branch of the group and was inspired by Lythgoe’s insistence that NA continue its activities, set up an encrypted Telegram group called Triple KKK Mafia as a “channel for further activity and discussion.”[80] At its height, the group had twenty-one members, who exchanged thousands of racist messages, including about “ethnic cleansing, plans for a white-only Britain and a race war.”[81] In some of his own messages, Deakin called for all Jewish people to be “burned” and for Chinese and black people to be turned into “biofuel.”[82] Deakin also created a second Telegram group called “Inner”, which included seven individuals from the larger chat group.[83]
One of the most dangerous individuals within both Telegram groups was Lance Corporal Mikko Vehviläinen, a British soldier who served in Afghanistan. Vehviläinen claimed to be in the group only “to learn useful combat skills.”[84] In preparation for what he considered to be an imminent race war, he stockpiled weapons, including firearms, knives, and machetes, at his home and recruited fellow soldiers to NA.[85] He also encouraged those in the “Inner” Telegram group to join the military, writing “If we get enough of us into the Army, we'll be in the right place when things start to collapse.”[86] Four National Action members, including Alex Deakin, were attempting to join the army before a police investigation disrupted the group.[87]
In 2017, Alex Deakin was arrested after he and several other NA members were caught on CCTV posting racist stickers at the Aston University campus in Birmingham, England.[88] His arrest led to the discovery of the Telegram chat groups, for which he apologized in advance to several NA contacts. In his apology, Deakin wrote “My seized phone is full of texts that will mark me as an organizer. I understand if you despise me for this sloppiness (it really couldn't have been worse if I tried).”[89] Deakin’s lack of security resulted in three separate trials that led to numerous members, including Deakin and Vehviläinen, receiving jail sentences for membership in NA.[90] The success of the police in apprehending NA members led the British advocacy group Hope Not Hate to declare in 2019 that the group was no longer an “organisational threat.”[91]
In April 2021, NA co-founder Benjamin Raymond was charged with various terrorism-related offenses.[92] He was later found guilty of being a member of a banned terrorist organization and of possessing terrorist documents, including a manifesto written by the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik and a guide to making explosive detonators.[93] In December 2021, Raymond was sentenced to eight years in prison.[94] The following year, in 2022, NA’s other co-founder, Alex Davies, was also convicted of NA membership, becoming the twenty-fifth person to be convicted of association with NA.[95]
NA Splinter Groups
While some members remained involved with National Action, others opted to found splinter organizations that could circumvent proscription. Two of the main ones that emerged were Scottish Dawn and National Socialist Anti-Capitalist Action (NS131).[96] Scottish Dawn “brought together Scottish NA members and some from the Scottish Defence League,” a racist far-right group based in Scotland.[97] NS131 was set up by NA’s co-founder Alex Davies and “bore extreme resemblance to the aesthetics of National Action.”[98] In September 2017, both groups were proscribed by the U.K. government as aliases of National Action.[99]
The most recent offshoot of National Action, System Resistance Network (SRN), emerged in the summer of 2017. On its website and Twitter account, SRN preached hatred toward non-whites, Jewish and Muslim communities, and gay people.[100] The group has been associated with acts of racist vandalism in ten cities across the United Kingdom.[101] SRN was added to the list of proscribed organizations in the United Kingdom in February 2020.[102]
