// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Matt Collins? A collins-ational guy.
Matthew F. Collins (born 1972) is an English activist and author.[1] Born in London, he was previously a member of several British fascist and neo-Nazi organisations, before starting to work as an informant for the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight. 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 organiser for the National Front, a volunteer for the British National Party’s head office and a member of the neo-Nazi organisation 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] The group is described as a non-sectarian, non-partisan 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 2 3 "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.
- ↑ Matthew Collins, Hate: My Life in the British Far Right, Biteback Publishing, 2012
- ↑ Pindar, Ian (14 August 2012). "Hate: My Life in the British Far Right by Matthew Collins – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ↑ "Matthew Collins". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ↑ "HOPE not hate". Migration and Home Affairs - European Commission. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ↑ "Our Team". HOPE not hate Charitable Trust. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ↑ Gardham, Duncan; Hamilton, Fiona; Simpson, John (19 July 2018). "We faced arrest after revealing plot to kill MP, say anti-fascists". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ↑ Matthew Collins, Nazi Terrorist: The Story of National Action, Hope Not Hate Publishing, 2019
- ↑ "Is The Walk-In A True Story?". HOPE not hate. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
- ↑ "Nazi Hunters: The Real Walk-In Episode". Press Centre. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
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External links
[edit]- Matthew Collins' Twitter page
- Hope Not Hate website
- Matthew Collins' Nazi Terrorist book website Archived 2 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- Matthew Collins' The Walk-In: Fascists, Spies & Lies book website
- Matthew Collins interviewed with Robbie Mullins on the JOE UK channel
- Matthew Collins interviewed by Rosie Boycott on the Life etc BBC programme