Organised Pseudolegal Commercial Argument schemes in the United Kingdom

UK Organised Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) schemes (including sovereign citizens and freeman on the land) predominantly consist of anti-government activists who misapply English common law in the belief that Clause 61 of the Magna Carta is legally relevant (spoiler: it never was) and applies across the whole of the country (spoiler: it never did). The ideology, which dates back to the 1970s in its native USA, first started to gain momentum in the UK around 2010 and boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic with antivax, anti-lockdown, and COVID-19 denialism sentiment. The movement has developed its own media outlets and its own illegal schools.

...

The pseudolegal concept of lawful rebellion, known within the UK's OPCA movements as the one true law, comes from Clause 61 of the original 1215 Magna Carta which called for the election of a group of 25 barons to keep “the peace and liberties […] granted by this charter" with the right for them to "claim immediate redress" if any of the articles were broken. This version of the charter was struck down by the Pope within a couple of months and subsequent versions did not include this clause. It is, nonetheless, held up by far right and anti-establishment activists as justification for rebellion against the legal and political "elites".

And while some are engaged in willful defiance of laws passed by elites that they consider unjust, there are also those, notes The Law Society's Ellie Cumbo, who due to a lack of basic legal knowledge, exacerbated by poor advice found online, get swept along by the wrong idea about how law works.

The freeman on the land movement crossed over to the UK with organisations such as the British Constitution Group and people such as the late John Harris (who later regretted joining the freeman movement), Brian Gerrish, Raymond St Clair (a notorious conman and man of many aliases) and Dominic Lohan (a.k.a., CommonlyKnownAsDom). Freeman arguments came to UK public attention when they tried recruiting amongst the more anarchist-leaning protesters at the Occupy London protests in late 2011, and even got two articles in the Guardian. These were promptly slapped down by actual lawyers who detailed how this was dangerous idiocy that would send you directly to jail. Freeman ideas are now an object of amusement for the British legal profession.

...

Where are they getting this from?

A number of organisations promoting OPCAs have sprung up across the country which have been identified as primary sources of (dis)information for many in the UK sovereign citizen movement.

UK Column

UK Column is a website edited by Brian Gerrish featuring conspiracy theories and antisemitism which was launched in 2006 as self-published newspaper the Devonport Column with a readership of around 500 people in the Plymouth area to expose an elaborate scheme to lie to the people that Gerrish believed the local council were engaged in. Gerrish who is a prominent figure in the British Constitution Group and the Lawful Rebellion movement has subsequently extended its reach.

Common Law Court

Common Law Court is a £50-per-month subscription website run by Darral Pinch (May 1968–) and Laraine Pinch (February 1973–) which supplies “identity cards,” other fake legal documents, and even attempted its own cryptocurrency, to help members “reclaim [their] rights.”

Pinch was initially a strong supporter of New Zealand pseudo-journalist and conspiracy theorist Joseph Gregory Hallett's claim to the British throne as King John III, stamping the series of pseudolegal documents Hallett produced to support his claim with the validation of Common Law Court. Fortunately, Pinch saw the error of his ways just in time to attend the coronation of unemployed security guard Gareth Barrett who proclaimed himself to be King Arthur.

Alpha Men Assemble

Alpha Men Assemble is a far-right paramilitary group founded to protest COVID-19 vaccines, which describes itself as "free thinking men and women living as sovereign beings under common law". It held "direct action" training sessions across the UK for breaking through police lines, marching in formation and sparring.