Westbourne organized a conference in 2011, it was attended by Transport secretary Philip Hammond, at which rail companies were asked to contribute £10,000 each to the launch of the campaign.
[2][3] The tactics were denounced by opposing group Spinwatch as "astroturfing", and cited as a case of the "triumph of vested interests and the power of their lobbying companies".
VICE quoted Bethell: "You've got to fight them on every street corner... You can't just sit and watch your opponents run around doing what they like.
In comments made at a conference with U.S. high speed rail advocates in 2012, Westbourne had advised lobbyists to "pick off" opponents with "sniper-scope accuracy" and "shut them up" with aggressive rebuttal campaigns, which Bethell called an "exhausting but crucial" part of successful lobbying.
[2] "Nothing British" is described as "a viral video campaign led by Westbourne Communications and hosted by The Sun to counter the rise of the BNP following their success in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections."