We have been in touch with Matthew Lester, a former Britain First Member, who came to prominence on Twitter this evening after visiting the Crayford Mosque and turning has back on the extremist group. Having the Twitter handle @wrestlingboy88 (Matthew Lionheart), these are the heartening responses we received from him this evening:
When asked what led him to join Britain First, he mentioned that the initial thrust of the group was against extremists and people like Anjem Choudhary. The need to counter extremism appealed to him, though over time, “with money being thrown around,” and the group receiving funds, it became less about extremism and more about income.
It also seems that social justice around the homeless was something that appealed to Matthew and this, he says, was manipulated by Paul Golding, who had suggested that helping the homeless would be something that Britain First would help on. Yet, sadly, the focus just became Muslims and went against the principles that Matthew believed the group was against. Extremism became a fixation on Muslims and less about helping and protecting others.
His final comments are heartening. He stated in an on-line interview with us that he wanted to see, “Everyone of all faiths standing together united against extremism and those wishing to cause division.” Matthew also attended the Crayford mosque and apologised to them regarding the demonisation that Britain First has undertaken towards Muslim communities.