How Do We Make Sense of the Far-Right Franchise Operation Raise the Colours?
Co-Founded by Convicted EDL Veteran, Campaign Ties Flag Displays to Anti-Migrant Protests and Far-Right Networks
By UK Politics Desk | October 10, 2025
Unmasking a Coordinated Far-Right Campaign
LONDON — Operation Raise the Colours, a seemingly grassroots effort to adorn Britain’s streets with Union Jacks and St George’s crosses, has emerged as a structured far-right “franchise” orchestrating anti-migrant protests and symbolic displays across towns like Faversham, Manchester, and beyond. Co-founded by Andrew Currien, known as Andy Saxon—a former English Defence League (EDL) bodyguard now handling security for Britain First—the campaign blends patriotism with divisive rhetoric, drawing in ordinary participants while being steered by extremists with histories of violence and racism.
Currien’s involvement is central: convicted in 2009 as one of six men in a brawl that crushed a 59-year-old man to death with a car, he has long been embedded in far-right circles. The operation supplies flags to local “divisions,” such as Faversham’s National Emergency group led by an evangelical with an affray conviction, who framed protests as a “crusade against infidels” targeting refugee children’s hostels. In Manchester, Churchill’s Lions—headed by Lee Twamley, a convicted people smuggler dubbed “Salford Smuggler”—has festooned city centres, with actions praised by Britain First’s Ashlea Simon but marred by harassment allegations.
These flag-raisings create an atmosphere of mourning or menace, often preceding demonstrations that harass locals and desecrate memorials. Britain First has donated 75 percent of its flag stock to teams in Manchester and the West Midlands, per leader Paul Golding, tying the campaign to organized far-right logistics. Twamley, spotted at Britain First marches and accused of assault in videos, dismissed his smuggling past as “irrelevant” when questioned, while his group claims to protect children from “illegal immigrants.”
Counter-protests, like Kent Stand Up to Racism’s blockade in Faversham on October 5, 2025, have outnumbered far-right marchers, with locals wielding anti-racist banners on St George’s flags. Yet, the operation’s decentralized “franchise” model—allowing local activations under a unified banner—enables rapid spread, exploiting social media to recruit and amplify grievances over jobs, housing, and the NHS, fused with anti-migrant sentiment.
Experts warn this appropriation of national symbols concedes ground to the far right, urging the left to reclaim them. Austerity’s scars, per Communist Party’s Nathan Bolton, have made working-class communities receptive, demanding clear narratives to isolate extremists. As of October 10, 2025, Operation Raise the Colours tests Britain’s social fabric, blending everyday patriotism with far-right agendas in a post-Brexit landscape hungry for identity.
Decoding a Far-Right Symbolism Strategy
Operation Raise the Colours operates as a far-right “franchise” with decentralized divisions coordinated by extremists like Currien and Twamley, using flag displays to normalize anti-migrant protests, appropriating national symbols to evoke racialized Englishness while masking violence histories, from Currien’s 2009 manslaughter conviction to Twamley’s smuggling past.
In Faversham and Manchester, actions blend local recruitment with Britain First logistics, targeting refugee hostels and harnessing austerity grievances over housing and NHS, per Bolton’s analysis, risking broader polarization if unaddressed by counter-narratives reclaiming flags for inclusive patriotism.
This model’s implications: it energizes far-right bases, disrupts communities, but faces pushback from anti-racist coalitions, highlighting the need for mass action to redefine national identity beyond extremist claims.
Key Figures and Their Backgrounds
Andrew Currien (Andy Saxon) co-founded the operation with EDL bodyguard roots and Britain First security roles; Lee Twamley leads Manchester’s Churchill’s Lions with a smuggling conviction, tying to Britain First marches amid harassment claims.
Campaign Activities and Tactics
Flag-raisings on lampposts and memorials create menacing atmospheres, preceding protests at refugee hostels; Britain First donates stock, while local leaders like Faversham’s evangelical frame actions as crusades, blending religious and far-right rhetoric.
Counter-Protests and Community Response
In Faversham, 100 far-right demonstrators were outnumbered by anti-racist crowds with “Refugees Welcome” banners, blocking hostel access; similar resistance in Manchester exposes the operation’s divisive impact on local politics.
Perspectives on the Franchise
“Operation Raise the Colours was co-founded by Andrew Currien, aka Andy Saxon. Formerly a key member of the English Defence League’s leadership bodyguard team, and now running security for the far-right party Britain First, Currien was jailed for his part in a racist death.”
“In the last 24hrs, we have supplied 6 districts with a thousand flags. These districts include Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Worcester, Dudley, Stourbridge and Staffordshire, showing how the operation coordinates supplies to expand its reach across regions.”
“Most of the flags in this photo are now on lampposts and bridges in Manchester and Birmingham! Britain First has donated 75% of its flag stock to local teams in Manchester and the West Midlands for ‘Operation Raise The Colours’, illustrating the party’s direct involvement.”
“Far-right and racist protests… have arguably reached further into people’s lives, fusing worries about jobs, housing and the NHS with perceived preferential treatment to what mainstream media almost unanimously call ‘illegal migrants’, exploiting working-class grievances.”
“Our refusal to fight on this powerful terrain of national identity has handed them victory in the battle of ideas. The left must reclaim symbols like the St George’s flag to avoid ceding Englishness to the far right in racialised terms.”
Roots in Far-Right Networks and Evolution
Born from COVID-era online activism, Operation Raise the Colours evolved from flag displays into a franchise model, co-founded by Currien with EDL and Britain First ties, expanding through local divisions like Faversham’s evangelical-led group and Manchester’s Churchill’s Lions under Twamley, blending patriotism with anti-migrant agitation.
The 2009 Currien conviction and Twamley’s 2016 smuggling sentence anchor the operation in criminal far-right histories, while Britain First’s flag donations and rally crossovers illustrate interconnected extremism, growing amid post-Brexit identity debates as of 2025.
Navigating the Road Ahead
Counter-mobilizations offer hope, with Faversham’s anti-racist turnout showing community resistance can isolate extremists; reclaiming symbols through inclusive actions, as Brignell urges, could neutralize the franchise’s appeal, fostering unity over division.
As Operation Raise the Colours tests Britain’s tolerance, mass action and clear narratives stand as bulwarks, ensuring far-right franchises fade against a tapestry of shared identity.
Categories, Keywords, and Sources
Categories: UK Far-Right, Political Activism, Anti-Migrant Protests, National Symbols, Extremist Networks
Keywords: Operation Raise the Colours, Andrew Currien Andy Saxon, EDL Britain First, far-right franchise UK, anti-migrant flag protests
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