Members of ‘extreme’ group Mirror exposed for migrant sabotage BANNED by France
We revealed flag campaign chief Ryan Bridge’s vigilante efforts with Tommy Robinson ally Daniel Thomas – now 10 unnamed Raise the Colours members hit with France ban
Ryan Bridge, left, and Daniel Thomas, right, have boasted online about their sabotage exploits against small boat crossings. (Image: )
Members of an “extreme right” group exposed by the Mirror for vigilante action against migrants have been banned from France.
Our probe revealed a flag campaign chief’s sabotage efforts with a far-right Tommy Robinson ally jailed for attempted kidnap. Now France has banned ten members of “Raise the Colours”, preventing them from entering or staying in the country.
The group’s Ryan Bridge and Daniel Thomas had boasted online about their exploits against small boat crossings. Thomas, who has been described as Robinson’s right-hand man, was once jailed for two years for a botched kidnap effort.
Neither have been named by the French government but an Interior Ministry statement characterised the group’s militants as “extreme right” – describing their activities in France as a potential threat to public order.
In an image posted on Thomas’ social media, he stood with Bridge next to the apparent remnants of a boat.(Image: )
It said the activists made trips to France to hunt for and destroy small boats used on the migration route across the English Channel. The group’s activists have also carried out “propaganda activities” along the northern French coastline “aimed at the British public, which was called upon to strengthen the movement’s ranks in order to put an end to the migration phenomenon,” the statement added.
The ministry did not name the 10 British nationals but said they had been “identified as militants within the movement who carried out actions on French territory”. On social media, Raise the Colours said it was aware of the statements by the French Interior Ministry but added that “no formal notification has been received… regarding any administrative measures”.
The group said it understood the statements referred to “administrative decisions concerning specific individuals, rather than the organisation as a whole”. It said it “always maintained that its activities must remain peaceful and within the law”, adding: “The organisation does not support violence or any unlawful activity.”
Ryan Bridge, left, with Daniel Thomas, who was once jailed for attempted kidnap. (Image: )
In November, Bridge and Thomas told how they found a boat on the French coast – with footage showing them damaging its engine. Later the same month, the duo appeared back in France again. On Raise the Colours’ X account, the group claimed to have destroyed “another migrant boat”. A post crowed: “We don’t just say ‘Stop The Boats’ we STOP The Boats!”
The group also posted a picture of Bridge and Thomas proudly holding flags, standing next to the apparent remnants of a boat. In a further clip posted on the group’s Facebook page, the pair also posed with flags next to the boat in a video set to Rule, Britannia” music.
The group labelled its efforts “Operation Overlord”, in a nod to the Allies’ World War Two campaign. The post bragged: “One Migrant Boat Has Been Destroyed”.
Thomas, who goes by the name Danny Tommo, was handed a two-year sentence in 2016 for an attempted kidnap after targeting the wrong man. On its website, Raise the Colours describes itself as a “grassroots movement for unity and patriotism”, adding that “with a handful of people determined to show their pride by flying the flag from one neighbourhood to the next it’s spread”.
Cross-Channel migration has become a thorn in relations between Britain and France in recent years. Over 41,000 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats last year, an increase on 2024 but fewer than the 2022 record, when more than 45,000 people made the crossing, according to the Home Office.
