The British Movement: Dawn Raids, Terror Plots and Nazi Youth Groups

HOPE not hate covers recent developments in the neo-Nazi British Movement and exposes the group’s links to Brogan Stewart, convicted of a terror plot last month. We also take a look at White Vanguard, a tiny but extreme neo-Nazi youth group linked to the BM.

Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version of this article.

The British Movement (BM) is the most overtly neo-Nazi organisation in the UK, and among the longest standing. Also known as the British National Socialist Movement, the group aims to foment “revolution from below” and has cultivated an extensive record of race hate and violence since its foundation in 1968.

Having spent years gathering dust, the BM has seen a recent uptick in activism after a number of younger members joined the aging skinheads. This includes a circle of former Patriotic Alternative activists in the North West, who have disseminated fascist propaganda and performed Nazi salutes at landmarks across the region, as well as drilling martial arts at their own gym in Manchester.

This has led to fresh media coverage and renewed attention from the authorities. HOPE not hate contributed to a series of articles in the Manchester Evening News that exposed activists who threw a birthday party for Hitler in an Oldham pub, complete with swastika cake, in April. Nine BM members in the North West were subsequently arrested in dawn raids that saw weaponry, Nazi memorabilia and hard drives seized last month. 

We will release details of the individuals involved once the legal proceedings have concluded.  

HOPE not hate can now reveal that Brogan Stewart, convicted last month of plotting terror attacks on mosques and synagogues, was also drawn to the group.

Stewart, based in Wakefield, was the ringleader of a trio of neo-Nazis who stockpiled over 200 weapons, including crossbows, an illegal stun gun and parts of a 3D-printed firearm. The former army cadet sent out rules, uniform and equipment lists to his accomplices, Christopher Ringrose and Marco Pitzettu, who he named as “armourers”. 

While Stewart and his accomplices operated online, he had links to formal fascist organisations — including the BM. 

In December 2023, Stewart received a BM membership form, “info pack” and a batch of BM leaflets, placing the group’s propaganda below the swastika flag on his wall. He wrote: “Their office is about 10 minutes drive from where I live. It’s almost uncanny.”  

The following month, he joined the BM chat group on Telegram, expressing his intention to formally join the organisation. He also discussed the establishment of a “unit to provide security for NSM [National Socialist Movement] events and meetings” with BM member Kyle Crosby, also based in Wakefield.

In February 2024, Stewart also attended a meeting of the National Support Detachment, a street protest outfit that formed the basis of the National Rebirth Party, a fascist political party headed by the oddball extremist Alek Yerbury. At the Wakefield gathering, Stewart posed for a photo with the NSD’s then second-in-command, Scott Pitts. Stewart was arrested just days later. 

Yerbury later admitted meeting Stewart at the event, writing: “It’s not really that significant. Didn’t really end up being a meeting. I actually spoke to the man, From the way he conducted himself there was no indication as to any secretive activity.” 

Stewart also appears to have attended the shambolic anti-migrant camp in RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, over which Yerbury presided in the autumn and winter of 2023-24.

White Vanguard

Last month, a new neo-Nazi outfit announced itself at Britain First’s lacklustre “march for remigration” in Birmingham, as a handful of black-clad activists held aloft a banner reading “White Vanguard” and bellowed through a megaphone about the need for a “National Socialist government”. 

White Vanguard emerged out of Youth Alliance (YA), a highly antisemitic groupuscule that both founded and folded last year. What remained of YA briefly renamed itself “National Socialist Youth” and established links to the British Movement, while other activists dabbled in Yerbury’s NRP. 

White Vanguard officially launched in March, Hitler saluting alongside BM activists at an event the following month.

The group states its intention to “break free from the stagnation of past leadership” and employs a style reminiscent of National Action, another neo-Nazi youth group that spiraled towards terrorism and was proscribed by the Home Office in 2016.

White Vanguard is an extremely marginal force and, most likely, lacks long term potential. Nonetheless, the brazen extremeness of the group deserves close monitoring.