| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner | British Union of Fascists (BUF) |
| Editor | Alexander Raven Thomson (from 1939) |
| Founded | 1936 |
Ceased publication | 1940 |
Political alignment | Fascism |
| Language | English |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Sister newspapers | The Blackshirt |
| Part of a series on |
| Far-right politics in the United Kingdom |
|---|
Action was a newspaper of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF). The paper first appeared in 1936. The editor of the paper from 1939 was Alexander Raven Thomson, the BUF's chief ideologue.[1] It ceased publication in 1940[2] due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the internment of the BUF's leadership. In fact the British government banned the paper.[2] For most of its existence, Action ran parallel to the official mouthpiece of the BUF, The Blackshirt. After the launch of the less hard-line and more intellectual Action, The Blackshirt became more low-brow and finally ceased publication in 1939.[3]
Action took its name from an earlier 1931 newspaper of the same name published by Mosley's New Party.
A later newspaper of the same name was published by the Union Movement from 1966.[4]
References
- Robert Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, London: Allan Lane, 1969, p. 119
- John Jenks (2006). British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 14. doi:10.1515/9780748626755. ISBN 9780748626755.
- The Blackshirt. British Online Archives. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- British Library online catalogue. 19 November 2015.