Alan Ayling (born 1965),[1] known by the pseudonymAlan Lake,[2] is a computer expert fromHighgate,London, who was involved in theEnglish Defence League (EDL). Until 2011, he was a director of Pacific Capital Investment Management.[2]
Ayling was described by the media in 2011 as a millionaire,[3] and as the "chief financier" of the English Defence League (EDL), which Lake reportedly "fiercely denied".[4] He did admit to having "given some money to help some EDL things happen" in his first television interview, on NorwegianTV 2.[5] According to then EDL leaderTommy Robinson, Ayling had never been a member of the EDL, and the EDL had not received funding from him. Responding to media claims saying the opposite, Robinson said that "he [Ayling] spoke at two demos and he wore a suit, and all of a sudden he was a millionaire funder."[6]
Lake was considered a central figure in organising internationalcounter-jihad contacts.[7][5] Lake spoke at a seminar onIslamisation inMalmö, Sweden, in 2009, organised by theSweden Democrats.[4][8] Lake has since said that he continues to maintain good relations with many of the party's members and that he is a good friend of MPKent Ekeroth.[5] He has considered that the state "might as well" execute Islamists who seek to imposesharia law in the UK,[5] and according toThe Guardian he called for discussion about killing theArchbishop of Canterbury, the Prime MinisterDavid Cameron and the deputy PMNick Clegg for allegedly supporting sharia law for Britain.[9] Ayling also founded thefar-right "4 Freedoms" website.[3][10]
Lake rarely speaks with the press.[3] According to Nigel Copsey, Lake represented the more "respectable" intellectual wing of the EDL.[8] In October 2011, Norwegian police formally investigated Lake to discover any potential ideological influence he may have had on mass murdererAnders Behring Breivik.[11] He was awarded 5,000 euros in damages by a Maltese court from Paul Adam Cinato for defamation of character after Cinato blogged that Lake was Breivik's mentor.[12] In January 2012, after the true identity of "Alan Lake" was revealed, Ayling was suspended from his management post at theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development in theCity of London.[13]