Intelligence and Security Committee Report: Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism/How the Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism Threat has Evolved
HOW THE EXTREME RIGHT-WING TERRORISM THREAT HAS EVOLVED
History of the threat
23. The British Far Right can trace its roots back to the 1930s and the emergence of Sir Oswald Mosley and his party, the British Union of Fascists. Mosley went on to form the Union Movement, a collection of Far-Right organisations in 1948. The movement contested London elections in 1949, and had a single councillor elected in Cumbria in 1953. Mosley stood for election as a Member of Parliament in both the 1959 and 1966 General Elections but failed to be elected. While the Union Movement faded into obscurity in the 1970s, the National Front was created in 1967, and became a household name by the 1970s. It reached the peak of its popularity in 1979, when it stood candidates in 303 seats in the General Election, but underwent a swift decline in the 1980s.
24. The British National Party (BNP) was formed by John Tyndall, co-founder of the National Front, in 1982. During the 1980s and 1990s, the BNP placed little emphasis on contesting elections, in which it did poorly, focusing instead on street marches and rallies. A growing 'moderniser' faction was frustrated by Tyndall's leadership, and ousted him in 1999. The new leader, Nick Griffin, sought to broaden the BNP's electoral base by presenting a more 'moderate' image, targeting concerns about rising immigration rates and emphasising localised community campaigns. This resulted in increased electoral presence throughout the 2000s (at one stage it had two Members of the European Parliament). Concerns regarding financial mismanagement resulted in Griffin being removed from office in 2014.
25. In 1992, Combat 18 (C18), a White Supremacist and openly neo-Nazi group, was formed by Paul Sargent as a stewarding group to protect events being organised by the BNP from anti-fascists. Opposed to electoral politics, C18 split from the BNP in 1993 on ideological grounds. C18 took control of the Blood and Honour music scene, a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group founded in the UK in 1987. The group had a close relationship with the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) based in West Belfast and with former members of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), the cover name of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. In 1998, C18 was associated with a letter-bomb campaign in Denmark, with targets including a left-wing group and an opposing Extreme Right-Wing (XRW) member from the British C18 wing. This was believed to have been orchestrated by a prominent C18 member—Will Browning—in the UK through Thomas Nakaba, a Danish Right-Wing Extremist. Nabaka, who was jailed for the offence, implicated Will Browning at trial for orchestrating the letter-bomb campaign.
26. In 1999, Sargent (who had split from C18 in 1993 over allegations that he was an informant for MI5) and fellow C18 member Martin Cross were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Christopher Castle (an associate of Paul Sargent, with whom he had been feuding). Will Browning took over leadership of C18, a role he still holds today. C18 remains notorious throughout Europe, and the brand has been adopted by a number of international White Supremacist organisations. C18 retains links to the Blood and Honour music scene, which is now banned in a number of countries: Germany outlawed it in 2000; Spain in 2011; Russia in 2012; and in 2019 the Canadian government placed it on its list of designated terror groups. Blood and Honour is not proscribed in the UK. When we asked the Head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) about this apparent anomaly, ***:
the reality is that we have seen for many years a decline in numbers of people actually concerned in those Blood and Honour events, the kind of music festival scene that was inspiring or inciting some hatred but not necessarily a kind of ideological cause.[1]
27. The 1990s also saw the emergence of Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism (ERWT). In 1999, David Copeland targeted black, Asian and LGBT people in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho in a series of nail bombings.
David Copeland's bombing campaign
Between 17 and 30 April 1999, over three consecutive weekends, David Copeland, a 22-year-old neo-Nazi, was responsible for a series of nail bomb explosions in London. Copeland was a former member of the BNP and the National Socialist Movement, and claimed to take his inspiration from C18.
17 April—Copeland left a timed device comprising four-inch nails detonated by fireworks in Electric Avenue, Brixton, targeting the largely black community there.
24 April—A similar device was detonated in London's Brick Lane injuring several Muslims who were gathering outside a mosque for prayers.
30 April—A device exploded outside the Admiral Duncan public house in Soho, in the heart of London's LGBT community.
Copeland's bombing campaign killed three people, and injured 140 others. In 2000, Copeland was convicted of murder and given six consecutive life sentences.[2]
28. National Action emerged online in late 2013 as a youth-orientated White Supremacist group following a National Socialist ideology. ***.[3] National Action targeted its recruitment at university campuses, aiming for a different profile of recruit than that associated with traditional White Supremacist groups. It also actively attempted to recruit military personnel. CTP advises:
National Action also ran several training camps in the UK, which focused on fitness, self-defence, propaganda and advice on how members could prepare for a race war. National Action also had a number of 'key associations' [i.e. links] globally. These were directly related to Right Wing Extremist activity and extended beyond online contact, involving travel and direct contact. In Europe, National Action held 'associations' with 12 countries, which included joint activity with other Right Wing Extremist groups, the hosting of training camps, and attendance at Far Right events. Beyond Europe, National Action were assessed to have associations with the Australian-based Antipodean Resistance, as well as having significant ties to the US-based Atomwaffen Division (AWD): the founding members of National Action and AWD were pictured together in the UK.[4]
29. The threat posed by the group related to its targeted recruitment of predominantly young men, whom it sought to radicalise with a National Socialist ideology.
- In 2014, National Action member Garron Helm was convicted of an antisemitic tweet relating to the Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger, receiving a four-week custodial sentence. This appeared to bring a new impetus to the group, with the group receiving worldwide attention within the XRW scene. Following his conviction, Helm was declared a hero, a martyr and a political prisoner within the movement.
- The attention on National Action intensified in January 2015 with the attempted murder of a Sikh dentist by Zak Davies, from Mold in North Wales, who was found to be in possession of National Action material in his home.
- 2016 saw the group increase its overt recruitment attempts, with a proactive leafleting campaign in town centres. National Action members photographed themselves performing the Hitler salute at the site of Buchenwald concentration camp, and the group's website showed a move to a more regional set-up with monthly updates from regions being posted.
- In 2016, National Action-linked social media accounts declared their support for the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox and made implied threats to other MPs. After this, a series of arrests targeted the leadership and members of the group and in December 2016, CTP put forward a national security case to the Home Office, leading to the proscription of National Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.
30. In laying an order for National Action's proscription on 12 December 2016, the then Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, described the group as "a racist, antisemitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology".[5] National Action was the first XRW organisation to be proscribed in the UK since the now-defunct British Union of Fascists in the 1940s. (The issue of proscription is addressed in more detail later in this Report.)
31. Following its proscription, National Action came under further pressure in 2017 with 25 members arrested, including 18 arrested under Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT) offences. Among those arrested were individuals serving in the British Army. On 28 September 2017, an order was laid in Parliament adding National Socialist Anti-Capitalist Action (NS131) and Scottish Dawn to the existing National Action proscription as aliases of National Action.
Jack Coulson[6]
On 26 July 2016, 17 year-old National Action member Jack Coulson was arrested for posting material online to stir up racial hatred. Following his arrest a house search was carried out and a pipe bomb and XRW items were found in his bedroom.
Coulson was charged and at the conclusion of his trial in January 2017 he was found guilty under Section 4 of the Explosives Act, and not guilty under Section 5 TACT. He was sentenced to a three year Youth Rehabilitation Order.
At the time of his trial the Judge commented that Coulson was one of the most dangerous young men he had ever dealt with.
Coulson continued to demonstrate extreme views in his meetings with support workers. Prior to his involvement with Right Wing Extremism Coulson was known to police for minor antisocial behaviour and arson offences. At trial, it was disclosed Coulson was socially isolated and on the autistic spectrum.
At trial Coulson claimed to have self-radicalised online and he is now outspoken and fixated on his extreme views. Coulson makes statements apparently to shock or draw attention from others, and has made inflammatory comments online regarding the murder of MP Jo Cox.
ERWT in 2012 and 2019: A comparison
32. MI5 and CTP provided a comparison of the ERWT threat as it was assessed in 2012 and then in 2019:
| Key differences[7] | |
| 2012 | 2019 |
| Police hold primacy for what is then termed 'Domestic Extremism'. MI5 is not involved.[8] | MI5 now have primacy for high priority investigations and leads regarding Extreme Right Wing Terrorism. |
| The Extreme Right Wing Terrorist threat is assessed to be LOW, indicating that an attack is 'unlikely'.
It is assessed that Potential Lone Actors present a greater threat than Right Wing Terrorist groups. |
The likelihood of an Extreme Right Wing Terrorist attack in the UK is assessed to be 'a realistic possibility'.
It is assessed that lone actors present the greatest risk. |
| There are common links between ERWT groups in the UK and Europe (primarily through the Blood and Honour Music scene).
Wider co-operation is rare due to a lack of common ideologies. |
There is increased interaction between a number of ERWT groups online, with an increase in branches of ERWT groups. |
| Recruitment and demographics | |
| 2012 | 2019 |
| Recruitment is mainly via initial contact with outward facing groups such as the British National Party (BNP) and the Blood and Honour music movement.
It usually requires an element of 'real-life' contact. |
The sharp increase in online material promoting Far Right ideology has amplified the radicalisation process.
There is no longer a requirement for 'real-life' contact, or individuals to attend meetings or events in order to be recruited. |
| Members of ERWT groups typically reflect an older demographic, and there is often a strong prevalence of criminality amongst extremist elements. | It is assessed that ERWT groups are attracting a younger demographic. For example, National Action promoted itself as a youth movement and ***. |
| Influencing factors | |
| 2012 | 2019 |
| Reactions to external events (e.g. the 7/7 bombings in London and London riots of 2011) are muted.
There is a lack of prominent charismatic leadership figures, contributing to a largely fragmented ERWT movement. |
It is assessed that ERWT groups and individuals are more reactive to external events; in part driven by increased focus on anti-immigration policies globally, and the Islamist terrorist attacks of 2017.
There remains an absence of prominent charismatic leadership—however, this is now less relevant owing to the increasing influence of online platforms. |
- ↑ Oral evidence - CTP, 28 April 2021.
- ↑ CTP summary of work on Domestic Extremism prior to the OIR [Operational Improvement Review] - Written evidence, CTP, 31 January 2020.
- ↑ MI5 Strategic Intelligence Group paper, 13 December 2019.
- ↑ Written evidence - CTP, 31 January 2020.
- ↑ Home Office, 'National Action becomes first extreme right-wing group to be banned in UK', statement, 16 December 2016.
- ↑ CTP summary of work on Domestic Extremism prior to the OIR - Written evidence, 31 January 2020.
- ↑ MI5 Strategic Intelligence Group paper, 20 March 2019.
- ↑ In the past, the role of policing in strategic public disorder intelligence traditionally sat within the local 'Special Branch'. In 2010, the National Domestic Extremism Unit (NDEU) was formed, creating one national unit with the aim of fulfilling the requirement of Public Order and Domestic Extremism intelligence and reducing duplication between the existing units. In 2011, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) took over responsibility for 'Domestic Extremism' intelligence—initially as a temporary measure in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games—with the unit being renamed the National Domestic Extremism & Disorder Intelligence Unit (NDEDIU) and then in 2016 being permanently subsumed into the Counter Terrorism Policing Operations Centre.