The head never rules the heart but just becomes its partner in crime.

McLaughlin attempted to change the name of the group to the British Nationalist & Socialist Movement in order to convince the courts that the BM no longer existed but the move failed and the case continued until finally Hill left to join the British National Party in 1982 taking more than half of the membership with him. The jail term did not affect his position as leader. He produced an occasional broadMichael McLaughlinet newspaper Comment on political themes although this has not appeared since the mid-1980s.

Born in Liverpool he was the son of an Irish republican and socialist who was a veteran of the International Brigades. Michael McLaughlin was for a time a leading figure on the British far right. According to his blog McLaughlin’s father was a good friend of Irish playwright Sean O’Casey and shared battle experiences with war correspondent and international author Ernest Hemingway.