The growing terror threat to the U.K. from far-right groups was highlighted on Wednesday as police arrested eleven people across the country on terrorism-related offences.
The arrests came as part of a police investigation into National Act, a neo-Nazi group banned last year, which lauded the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox last year.
The eleven arrests took place across the country, including in northwest England, south Wales, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire, of men aged between 22 and 35 who were charged with an array of offences from suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism to funding terrorism.
Last week, three men, including two British soldiers, appeared in court charged over membership of the group, while two are to charges relating to plans for a white-only Britain.
“Counterterrorism policing is committed to tackling all forms of extremism that threatens public safety and security,” said Neil Basu, deputy assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan Police. “Investigations relating to alleged extreme right-wing activity are pursued with the same level or resource and vigour as other ideologies.”
“Those who promote extreme right-wing views are looking to divide our communities and spread hatred. This will not be tolerated and those who do so must be brought to justice,” said D.C.S. Martin Snowden, head of counterterrorism policing in the northeast of England, following the latest arrests.
Jo Cox’s murder
The murder of Cox in June last year by Thomas Mair, a far-right extremist, brought the issue into spotlight. Further, in June, one person was killed when a man drove a van into a crowd outside a north London mosque, in one of the five terrorist attacks to have taken place in Britain this year, though the perpetrator is yet to be linked to any far-right organisation.
The Times reported in August that about 40 neo-Nazis were being investigated over “proactively plotting” against Britain’s Muslim community.
In December, National Action, which has been operational since 2013, became the first far-right organisation to be banned by the U.K. under its anti-terror laws. “National Action is a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology,” said Home Secretary Amber Rudd at that time.
