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# Revealed: 'dark' money pressure group helped man Scots anti-asylum protests
- URL: https://www.theferret.scot/great-british-pac-anti-asylum-protests/
- Published: 2026-09-13T05:00:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-13T05:00:46.000Z
- Description: This US-style right-wing political pressure group keeps its funders a secret. Its members have helped man Scotland’s anti-migrant and asylum demonstrations.
- Author: Jamie Mann
- Tags: Investigations, Far Right

**Members of an opaquely-funded organisation advised by a fundraiser for Donald Trump attended anti-asylum protests in Scotland, The Ferret can reveal, prompting fears so-called “dark” money could secretly fund hard right groups.**

Great British PAC’s senior personnel have included men who allegedly shared material that defended Hitler and denied the Holocaust, while its Scotland director is an anti-Islam campaigner who said everyone must “pick a side” between “good and evil”.

The group [shared](https://x.com/GreatBritishPAC/status/2088946949068046580?ref=theferret.scot) a picture of nine people it said were members attending an August protest outside Falkirk’s Cladhan Hotel, former asylum accommodation that acted as a flashpoint for demonstrations. Most of these individuals have attended or spoken at similar demos across Scotland.

> Proud of our Great British PAC team in Falkirk yesterday, led by our brilliant Scottish Director Ronni McMenemy. 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿  
> While others talk, our people turn up.  
> Local communities have every right to raise legitimate concerns about illegal immigration, asylum policy, public safety and… [pic.twitter.com/mGPkB9ZSW6](https://t.co/mGPkB9ZSW6?ref=theferret.scot)
> 
> — Great British PAC (@GreatBritishPAC) [August 16, 2026](https://x.com/GreatBritishPAC/status/2088946949068046580?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=theferret.scot)

The PAC[ says](https://www.greatbritishpac.com/?ref=theferret.scot) it is inspired by the political action committees (PACs) that help bankroll and influence US politics. It wants to unite right-wing parties ahead of the next general election, rally “patriots to defend British values”, support local campaigns, and influence government, including overturning a ban on new oil and gas licences in Scotland’s North Sea.

But the group has yet to reveal its financiers, which it [offers](https://www.greatbritishpac.co.uk/?ref=theferret.scot) anonymity, has [not ruled out](https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/14/advance-uks-great-british-successor-group-refuses-to-rule-out-foreign-funding/?ref=theferret.scot) accepting foreign money, and claims to have been invited to Washington DC by US PACs.

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Democracy campaigners said the public is “entitled to know” about any overseas donors, while an MSP claimed legal loopholes could allow for “dark and opaque” money to flow to campaign groups and skew the political debate.

But the PAC said it was in full compliance with UK laws, stressing “an important distinction between donor privacy and unlawful or unaccountable funding”. The group “unequivocally rejects racism, antisemitism, religious hatred and political violence”, and claimed controversial comments made by its members occurred before they joined.

The [event](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62qql915q7o?ref=theferret.scot) it attended, called The Right Unites, was organised by anti-asylum group Voices for Falkirk. Such protests intensified after a hotel resident was convicted for raping a local teenage girl and another was [jailed](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy071r4yqjno?ref=theferret.scot) for sexually assaulting two women. The residence [no longer](https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/people/currently-no-residents-at-falkirks-asylum-hotel-says-mp-8922408?ref=theferret.scot) houses asylum seekers.

Some [144](https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/144-anti-immigration-protests-have-taken-place-in-scotland-this-year-8831334?ref=theferret.scot) similar protests took place across Scotland between January and the end of July, with more than half taking place outside the Cladhan, according to Police Scotland. This [reportedly](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/anti-migrant-protests-sweeping-scotland-37503348?ref=theferret.scot) led to a £1m police overtime bill for taxpayers.

The Ferret has documented how [far right agitators](https://www.theferret.scot/far-right-agitators-are-attending-asylum-hotel/), including a [killer](https://www.theferret.scot/glen-kane-mark-sinclair-glasgow-protest/) and a former member of a banned terror group, exploited the protests. We also [revealed](https://www.theferret.scot/jim-dawson-funding-vigilante-scotland/) that the frontman of a Christian nationalist organisation was raising funds internationally to buy equipment for Scottish "night patrols" accused of targeting migrants.

[Far-right agitators stand accused of stirring up trouble at asylum hotel protests. But anti-racists are standing firmFollowing a sharp rise in far right activity, we’ve spent the last three months attending protests, speaking to activists under threat, and tracking anti-asylum seeker demonstrations across Scotland.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-3eb70790-b83a-469f-b7e4-d896178d1c2c.png)The FerretBilly Briggs![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/anti-migrant-protestj45496-f36ff4f4-a7a4-480c-a6cf-0413c4c90d14.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/far-right-agitators-are-attending-asylum-hotel/)

### **Key personnel**

The Great British PAC was founded by journalist[ Claire Bullivant](https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairebullivant/?ref=theferret.scot), its [owner](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15939470/persons-with-significant-control?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) and chief executive. Advisers[ include](https://www.greatbritishpac.com/about/people?ref=theferret.scot) a Northern Ireland MP, former Tory MPs, lords, and UK ministers, and [Greg Swenson](https://www.gregswenson.org/?ref=theferret.scot), chair of Republicans Overseas UK, which represents supporters of Trump’s party.

Swenson’s group has [fundraised](https://www.ft.com/content/f9b04ece-6cd7-417e-899f-abc3d2f1f1db?ref=theferret.scot) for the US president, including at the London mansion of Reform donor, Nicky Candy, who is now Reform's treasurer. Swenson did not respond to a request to comment.

Ben Habib is the PAC’s chair. He was Reform UK’s co-deputy leader, and, in 2024, [said](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-asylum-rwanda-channel-boats-b2533923.html?ref=theferret.scot) Britain should “absolutely” let migrants drown. He [reportedly](https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/13/a-police-report-legal-threats-and-a-splinter-party-inside-the-demise-of-advance-uk/?ref=theferret.scot) left the party after falling out with leader Nigel Farage due to policies including Habib’s preference for mass deportations.

Present in Falkirk was the PAC’s Scotland director, Ronni McMenemy. In March she [asked](https://x.com/LilRoo04/status/2033809393830007250?ref=theferret.scot) Trump for help via X. The UK Government was “allowing (facilitating) Islam to take over the UK and that includes all our military might as well!”, she wrote.

In 2025, McMenemy argued that “Islam must be [removed](https://x.com/LilRoo04/status/1974764590656577623?ref=theferret.scot) from the west”. Last year she [said](https://x.com/LilRoo04/status/1966098382407032837?ref=theferret.scot) the assassination of the US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk had “ACTIVATED good against evil”, adding: “Everyone needs to get ready to pick a side”.

> “UK voters are entitled to know whether any overseas donors are funding the Great British PAC and their motive for providing financial support.” — Tom Brake, Unlock Democracy 

Pictured alongside McMenemy was Reece Lauder, a candidate for Habib’s former Advance UK party in Scotland. [According to](https://hopenothate.org.uk/2026/04/21/the-unelectables-meet-the-far-right-candidates-in-the-may-2026-elections/?ref=theferret.scot) Hope not Hate, he campaigned to “remove \[the\] LGBTQ community out of public services”, and claimed “everything that’s wrong with the world is due to feminism”.

We found that Lauder shared a post that said Muslims have “no right to feel safe in Christian lands” because “you slaughtered our ancestors" and would murder “our descendants". He also claimed the man who threw a toddler into a crocodile pen in Cambridgeshire in June was Muslim, when in fact authorities have not yet [disclosed](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8d3pn5g764o?ref=theferret.scot) any information about the perpetrator's religion or race.

Lauder dismissed Hope Not Hate as “extreme left” and said The Ferret had “handpicked words and memes to try and slander me”. No other PAC member or listed director named in this piece responded to requests to comment.

They include activists Kenny Millson, and Jessica Gunn. Gunn [spoke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx0rQTjrwJU&ref=theferret.scot) at the Unite the Clans anti-migrant rally outside Holyrood in March, while Millson gave a speech at the Falkirk demo and [called](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LKi254iq5c&ref=theferret.scot) for mass deportations. At another event, he addressed crowds in front of a banner promoting the [extremist](https://www.theferret.scot/tag/patriotic-alternative-scotland/) Patriotic Alternative Scotland group.

[These women were abused by far right groups who claimed to want to protect them. But they fought backWomen have been leading the fight against the far right in Scotland but anti-racism activism has come at a high personal cost with at least 14 having been publicly abused and threatened. But they are resolute in the face of intimidation and say they will continue defending human rights.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-21e4726e-eeac-479b-bc2a-16ee8ba8fc0a.png)The FerretBilly Briggs![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/Far-right-rally-Dundee---2026-d080fac1-76ff-4614-af4f-7f5c946097a3.JPG)](https://www.theferret.scot/women-abused-far-right-scotland/)

When contacted by The Ferret, the PAC removed all directors from its website. It previously listed Mark Tunnicliff as director for Central Scotland. He [says](https://mtfalkirk.co.uk/?ref=theferret.scot) he is a member of Restore Britain, a hardline Reform splinter party.

Habib wound up Advance UK in June and [merged](https://www.greatbritishpac.com/about?ref=theferret.scot) it with the PAC. This, he [said](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/restore-britain-kent-rupert-lowe-kn9bsn3ql?ref=theferret.scot), would give Restore a clear run electorally. The Pakistan-born politician has condemned the ethnonationalism espoused by some Restore members.

However, some senior PAC figures stayed in place after reportedly expressing racist views. Edward Oakenfull was listed as England director before The Ferret’s enquiry, despite being [dropped](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c727xz2kkgjo?ref=theferret.scot) as a Reform candidate due to [claiming](https://hopenothate.org.uk/case-files-gb-pac/?ref=theferret.scot) that Britain's IQ was “in severe decline” due to “sub Saharan Africans plus Muslims that inter breed”. Oakenfull said most of his remarks had been taken out of context.

Antony Antoniou was also [dropped](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51yxz8e5lro?ref=theferret.scot) as a Reform candidate, but listed as the PAC’s Northamptonshire director. He reportedly [shared](https://hopenothate.org.uk/2025/06/23/meet-the-great-british-pac-a-far-right-pressure-group-packed-with-extremists/?ref=theferret.scot) a website containing Hitler’s speeches and pointed followers to a video claiming the Nazi leader “never ordered the extermination of a single Jew”. Antoniou said these were automated posts from news feeds and he would never post anything antisemitic.

The PAC previously counted Carl Benjamin as an advisor. The influencer [used](https://hopenothate.org.uk/2019/04/25/ukip-euro-candidates-vile-racial-slur-ridden-rant/?ref=theferret.scot) racial slurs in 2015, [accusing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-47974036?ref=theferret.scot) critics of following political correctness, and in 2019, [said](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-47974036?ref=theferret.scot) he "wouldn't even rape" a female MP. Benjamin initially [refused](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48185348?ref=theferret.scot) to apologise for his rape comment, but eventually [did so](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcZoAABCOA&ref=theferret.scot) five years later.

[‘Fighting age males’ and coded swastikas: How the far-right is using gaming to recruit the next generation of NazisFar right actors have used gaming to recruit youngsters for some time but experts say they are increasingly using codes and imagery to avoid moderation.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-af54ab27-8fe9-45e0-8f18-8dd718cd02ff.png)The FerretBilly Briggs![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/iStock-1323456892-f2fa7235-3bca-4f30-89f2-c8bb90505a81.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/far-right-using-gaming-to-recruit/)

### **The PAC’s funding**

The PAC’s website [says](https://www.greatbritishpac.co.uk/?ref=theferret.scot) “a donation is only ever named publicly if you tick the box to appear on a particular appeal's donor wall” – “a common and entirely reasonable position” for those “whose work makes a public profile difficult”.

However, no donors are listed. Habib [vowed](https://www.greatbritishpac.co.uk/news/ben-habib-pledges-to-match-public-donations-in-landmark-legal-fight-to-stop-the-chagos-betrayal?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) to match every donation up to £10,000 in its [legal challenge](https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/how-rightwing-activists-tried-to-thwart-chagos-deal?ref=theferret.scot) to stop the UK Government from transferring ownership of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

[For £10](https://www.greatbritishpac.com/?ref=theferret.scot) a month, members can join the PAC’s member council, for £100, they can enter specialist working groups, and for £500, can attend private briefings with senior PAC figures and run for senior leadership roles.

In August, the PAC [told Byline Times](https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/14/advance-uks-great-british-successor-group-refuses-to-rule-out-foreign-funding/?ref=theferret.scot) it “may receive lawful financial support from individuals or organisations outside the UK where permitted”. It would “register with the Electoral Commission in any capacity in which registration becomes legally required” and as a ‘third party campaigner’ if it decided to promote a party.

The Electoral Commission told Byline Times that parties only need to check the permissibility of donors or disclose the source of their funds after they have registered, meaning such rules would not apply to money raised prior to registration.

> “If these other groups are accessing very large amounts of potentially foreign money, that’s not a level playing field and that’s something we should be concerned about.” — Martyn Day MSP 

The PAC’s website [says](https://www.greatbritishpac.co.uk/about?ref=theferret.scot) it exists to influence what happens between elections through organising campaigns, building parliamentary alliances and mobilising public opinion.

It wants to “identify, train, and back first-class MPs, councillors, and civil servants” in order to elect the UK's future leaders. It aims to use “legal strategies” to “counteract activist lawfare” and deploy a “relentless PR and media campaign” and a “rapid-response team to expose fake news”.

It previously asked supporters to report on “activist judges, two-tier police and biased civil servants”, [according to](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/gb-pac-uk-right-us-reform-farage-political-action-committee-elon-musk-donors-america/?ref=theferret.scot) openDemocracy. The PAC told the publication in April that US PACs had invited it to Washington DC.

### **‘Dark and opaque’**

Falkirk East SNP MSP, Martyn Day cited “[many openings](https://www.spotlightcorruption.org/report/hostile-actors-hijack-the-next-general-election/?ref=theferret.scot)” in UK laws that could “lead to money coming in legitimately that’s clearly dark and opaque”. “If you’re moving a political agenda and are spending a fortune on it… it affects how people vote and react politically,” he said. “It’s all tied together and should be treated as one.”

He added: “But if these other groups are accessing very large amounts of potentially foreign money, that’s not a level playing field and that’s something we should be concerned about”.

Tom Brake, a former Liberal Democrat MP who heads campaign group Unlock Democracy, said the PAC’s approach to naming donors was a “test of transparency”. “UK voters are entitled to know whether any overseas donors are funding the Great British PAC and their motive for providing financial support,” he argued.

Labour MSP Jenny Young urged Scots to call out “racist, intolerant and ignorant views which seek to sow division and spread hatred in our communities.”

[The ex-BNP ‘Christian patriot’ raising international funding for Scottish ‘vigilante’ night patrolsFar right organisation Knights Templar International, whose frontman Jim Dowson has a long history of involvement with extremist groups, is now supporting Scotland’s new wave of night patrols.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-4941bd19-fd0c-4eb4-b136-28bc04793a14.png)The FerretKarin Goodwin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/dowson-1-515dcec6-e2d4-4397-ac44-efab9f08af47.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/jim-dawson-funding-vigilante-scotland/)

### **PAC meets ‘legal and regulatory requirements’**

Great British PAC’s chief executive, Claire Bullivant, told The Ferret her group “unequivocally rejects racism, antisemitism, religious hatred and political violence” and that our reporting should make “a clear distinction between people formally representing our organisation and other members of the public who attended the same events”.

“Your questions cite a considerable number of comments allegedly made by various individuals on personal social media accounts, in instances before their involvement with the Great British PAC,” she said. “Individuals are responsible for their own personal comments unless they are expressly speaking on behalf of our organisation.

“Where specific remarks by somebody holding an official position within the PAC are brought to our attention and appear potentially incompatible with our values, we will consider them properly and in their full context rather than reaching conclusions solely on the basis of third-party descriptions or political labels.”

Bullivant stressed there was “an important distinction between donor privacy and unlawful or unaccountable funding”. “The fact that a donor's name is not automatically displayed on a public website does not mean that a donation is anonymous to the organisation, nor does it mean that funds have been accepted unlawfully,” she added.

“The Great British PAC operates under UK law and complies, and will continue to comply, with the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to its activities, including any requirements relating to political campaigning, expenditure, donations and registration. Where registration or disclosure is legally required, we will comply with it.”

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