[citation needed] The action force's members assume titles such as "provost marshal", and a document written by Jim Dowson said that "I have lived in the worst trouble spots of Belfast; I have had high powered machine gun fire rip bricks from my house and have been injured by grenade attack.

[30] In its official statement on the matter, Facebook stated that this was due to "repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups".

"[31] In January 2019, after a period in prison for religiously aggravated harassment, Jayda Fransen stepped down from her position as deputy leader and left the party completely.

[37] Dowson had been prominent in the protests, and at the time of the launch, was awaiting trial for public order offences, as was another of the Coalition's founders, Willie Frazer.

The Daily Mirror and The Independent wrote that Dowson left because of the party's "mosque invasions", which he considered to be "provocative and counterproductive", as well as "unacceptable and unchristian" and "just as bad" as Anjem Choudary.

[43] Following Johnson's victory in the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Britain First sent an email to supporters calling on them to join the Conservative Party in order "to make Boris Johnson's leadership more secure", stating that its chief of staff had campaigned for the Conservatives at the last election, and expressing a desire to play an equivalent role to that of Momentum within the Labour Party.

[56] At the count, the BBC News reporter Nick Robinson was criticised on Twitter for taking a selfie with Fransen, stating that he did not know who she was and that he would check before appearing in any future photographs.

[7][72] On 5 January 2015, a district judge at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court found Paul Golding guilty of harassing the sister-in-law of a man allegedly linked to the 7 July bombings, having mistakenly turned up at her house instead of his.

[75] Around a dozen or so Britain First activists recorded themselves holding a banner proclaiming "We Are The British Resistance" and emptying cans of beer outside a mosque to "bait" Islamic extremists operating in the area.

[82] In May 2014, Britain First announced that it would be deploying "hundreds of ex-British Forces" alongside "several armoured ex-army Land Rovers" to protect the UKIP leader Nigel Farage after he had been opposed on the street by supporters of Scottish independence.

[97] Britain First's founding principles stated that its aim is to protect "British and Christian morality", it is "committed to preserving our cultural heritage" and "We oppose the increasing colonisation of our homeland through uncontrolled, mass immigration.

Britain First is committed to maintaining and strengthening Christianity as the foundation of our society and culture" and that "Genuine British citizens will be put first in housing, jobs, education, welfare and health".

[99] Britain First states that it has thousands of members who belong to ethnic minorities, and the group rejects the term racism as the "[invention of] a communist mass murderer to silence European opposition to 'multiculturalism'".

Some sources have noted the openly militaristic and violent nature of the group,[100] particularly in recruiting and training ex-soldiers, and unlawfully wearing political uniforms.

[8] A 2014 report on the links between Britain First and terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland said that behind populist Facebook posts "lies a small but dangerous group of religious fundamentalists intent on starting a 'Holy war'".

[105] Britain First also received criticism for posing for a photograph with naval cadets in Nottingham, and then adding a caption falsely claiming that their activists were protecting the children.

[106] In addition to this, Britain First publishes media falsely labelling Muslims, who happened to be protesting against Islamophobia and bigotry, celebrating cricket results, or not even there, as "extremists".

In response, Golding called the ASA a "toothless quango with no power which no one takes any notice of" and responded that the group's solicitors had deemed the crown distinct enough to be used without breaching regulations.

[109] The ASA published a ruling on 4 March 2015 upholding complaints about Britain First's use of the crown symbol, and about their selling merchandise falsely implying that it was British-made.

[114][115][116] In November 2017, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, caused controversy by re-tweeting three anti-Muslim videos shared by Jayda Fransen.

was filmed during the Syrian Civil War in 2013 and showed a man, who is believed to be an Al-Nusra supporter, destroying a statue of Mary and stating, "No-one but Allah will be worshipped in the land of the Levant."

[126] A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Theresa May, condemned Trump's retweeting and added that Britain First spread "hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions".

[127] Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, also condemned Trump's retweets, writing on social media that, "Britain First seeks to divide communities and intimidate minorities, especially our Muslim friends and neighbours.

I join the urgent call of faith groups and others for President Trump not just to remove these tweets, but to make clear his opposition to racism and hatred in all forms.

[136] Bunting had previously organised an anti-terrorist rally in front of Belfast City Hall in August 2017, with invited speakers including Golding and Fransen.

[137] Fransen was subsequently arrested in London in November 2017 by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, charged with using "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour" at the rally, and ordered to appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court on 14 December 2017.

After the London Bridge attack on 3 June, he made several searches on Google for Britain First leader Paul Golding and his deputy Jayda Fransen, as well as Tommy Robinson, one of the EDL's founders.

[144][145] Matthew Collins, head of research for the anti-fascist group Hope not Hate, suggested in The Guardian that the ban, combined with the imprisonment of the party's leaders, has the potential to lead to the collapse of Britain First, which has depended heavily on online activism.

[149] On 16 June 2016, Jo Cox MP was fatally shot and stabbed outside a library in Birstall, by a man who eyewitnesses said shouted "Britain first" as he carried out the attack.

[155] In November, several months after Cox's murder, the Labour MP Louise Haigh said that the House of Commons should open a debate on the issue of Britain First's proscription, saying to The Independent that "the threat and violence of the extremist political right is of serious concern", adding that "we need a full and frank debate in this country about how such hate-filled, violent extreme right organisations are threatening and undermining the values we hold dear".