This article is about the current British group - for information about the earlier British group, see National Socialist Movement (UK, 1962). For other groups with this name, see National Socialist Movement.

The National Socialist Movement (NSM) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 neo-Nazi group active during the late 1990s. The group is not connected to the earlier National Socialist Movement of Colin Jordan

Colin Jordan

John Colin Campbell Jordan was a leading figure in postwar Neo-Nazism in Britain. In the far-right nationalist circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly 'Nazi' inclination in his open use of the styles and symbols of the Third Reich.Through organisations such as the National...

.

Origins

The roots of the NSM lay in a split that developed in Combat 18

Combat 18

Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...

 in the mid to late 1990s. In early 1997 it was claimed on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

's World in Action

World in Action

World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...

that the original leader of Combat 18 Charlie Sargent, who at the time was on remand for the murder of fellow C18 member Chris Castle, had acted as a paid informant for the police, although no evidence for this allegation was provided. Whilst Sargent was disowned by some of the rank and file membership of C18, his brother Steve, also a C18 member, supported Sargent and together with David Myatt led away fifty or so like-minded members to form a separate group, the National Socialist Movement, in June 1997.

Development

David Myatt was the first leader of the NSM until his resignation in March 1998 following his arrest by detectives from Scotland Yard on charges relating to incitement to racial hatred and incitement to murder when Tony Williams, a former member of the International Third Position

International Third Position

International Third Position ' was a neo-fascist organization formed by the breakaway faction of the neofascist British National Front and Italian neofascists led by Roberto Fiore....

, assumed the position of leader. Williams was a veteran of the National Front since the 1970s and had even been chosen t escort the ashes of Savitri Devi to Arlington, Virginia where they were given to the American Nazi Party

American Nazi Party

The American Nazi Party was an American political party founded by discharged U.S. Navy Commander George Lincoln Rockwell. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Rockwell initially called it the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists , but later renamed it the American Nazi Party in...

. As leader Williams duties included overseeing membership inquiries and levying the £10 annual fee from registered supporters.

Mike Whine of the Board of Deputies of British Jews

Board of Deputies of British Jews

The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...

 has described the NSM as a "very small but very violent neo-Nazi group. Their whole programme is one of terrorism ... against Jews, against Blacks and against Asians." Myatt, who was the architect of the NSM, denied that NSM the supported racial hatred but admitted that they intended to accomplish their aim of "an entirely new society, based upon personal honour" through revolutionary activity. The group's own mission statement claimed that the NSM was "formed in June 108 yf ["Year of the Fuehrer" - a system of measuring the years from Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

's birth also employed by the National Alliance and similar groups] for the purpose of championing the cause of Aryan identity and Aryan freedom" whilst also committing the group to the establishment of a "National Socialist State".

Steve Sargent served as propaganda director of the new group and produced their magazine White Dragon. This neo-Nazi publication garnered a following due to its often humorous style of reporting as well as Sargent's propensity to fill pages with his take on events at his favourite football club Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

. The NSM calimed to be a political party although much of its literature advocated violent revolution. A further magazine was also published, sharing the name Column 88 with an earlier neo-Nazi paramilitary group

Column 88

Column 88 was a neo-nazi paramilitary organization based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in the early 1970s, and disbanded in the early 1980s. The members of Column 88 undertook military training under the supervision of a former Royal Marine Commando, and also held regular gatherings attended...

, although this was as much a personal concern of Williams as White Dragon was of Sargent.

Nail bomber

The NSM was not widely known until 1999 when David Copeland

David Copeland

David John Copeland is a former member of the British National Party and the National Socialist Movement, who became known as the "London Nail Bomber" after a 13-day bombing campaign in April 1999 aimed at London's black, Bangladeshi and gay communities.Over three successive weekends between 17...

, the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 nail-bomber, received six life sentences for his April 1999 bombing campaign against London's black

Brixton

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

, Asian

Brick Lane

Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...

, and gay

Old Compton Street

Old Compton Street runs east-west through Soho, London, England.- History :The street was named after Henry Compton. who raised funds for a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686...

 communities, which killed three people, including a pregnant woman, and injured 129, some of whom lost limbs. Copeland, who had joined the NSM after becoming disillusioned with the British National Party

British National Party

The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

, served as Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

organiser for the group.

David Myatt would claim that the attacks had been the work of Copeland on his own and could not be blamed on the NSM. Nonetheless the arrest of Copeland saw the other members of the NSM go to ground.