Matthew F. Collins (born 1972) is an English activist and author. Born in London, he was previously a member of several British

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

and

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

organizations, before starting to work as an

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

for an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

magazine. He later became an activist for anti-fascist and

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and delibera ...

campaigns.

Far-right politics and role as informant

In his youth, Collins was the South London organizer for the National Front, a volunteer for the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

’s head office and a member of the

organization

Combat 18 Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then, it has spread to other countries, including Germany. C ...

. Collins took part in the Battle of Welling after which he became a paid informant for the

Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

'' magazine. Collins was paid in book tokens for his role as an informant. 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary ''Dead Man Walking'' (2004). 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 Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

Hope Not Hate

Matthew Collins is currently a researcher and Head of Intelligence for the anti-fascist and anti-racist campaign group

Hope Not Hate Hope not Hate (stylised as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-pa ...

. Hope Not Hate is described as a non-sectarian, nonpartisan third party organisation. He manages Hope Not Hate's intelligence network. Collins managed Robbie Mullen, a mole in National Action, in foiling a plot to murder Labour MP

Rosie Cooper Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper (born 5 September 1950) is a British health official and former politician. Cooper was a Liberal and later Liberal Democrat member of the Liverpool City Council from 1973 until 1999, when she joined the Labour Party. ...

in 2017. In 2019, Matthew Collins wrote his second book, ''Nazi Terrorist: The Story of National Action'' with Robbie Mullen, 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 The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

newspaper. Collins is played by the actor

Stephen Graham Stephen Graham (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor and film producer. He began his career in 1990, with early notable roles in '' Snatch'' (2000) and ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne ...

in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

television drama series '' The Walk-In'' broadcast in Autumn 2022. He appeared in the documentary ''Nazi Hunters: The Real Walk-In'' which was broadcast after the final episode.

References

External links

Matthew Collins' Twitter pageHope Not Hate websiteMatthew Collins' ''Nazi Terrorist'' book websiteMatthew Collins' ''The Walk-In: Fascists, Spies & Lies'' book websiteMatthew Collins interviewed with Robbie Mullins on the ''JOE'' UK channelMatthew Collins interviewed by Rosie Boycott on the ''Life etc'' BBC programme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Matthew F. English fascists 1972 births Living people 21st-century English memoirists Writers from London National Front (UK) politicians British National Party people English neo-Nazis English anti-fascists English expatriates in Australia British anti-racism activists Former white supremacists