EXTREME RIGHT-WING TERRORIST GROUPS
58. MI5 assesses that, while individuals present the greatest Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism (ERWT) threat, there remains "a significant, albeit smaller risk from organised online and offline groups in the UK".[1] As previously mentioned, according to an MI5 paper from early 2020,[2] there are broadly three key ideologies driving ERWT groups (although individuals and groups may subscribe to ideological tenets and ideas from multiple categories):
- 'White Supremacist' and 'White Nationalist';
- 'Cultural Nationalist'; and
- 'Identitarian' movement.
'White Supremacist' and 'White Nationalist' groups
59. The majority of ERWT groups in the UK that endorse violence in service of their ideology are assessed to have White Supremacist and White Nationalist views (previously referred to under the category of the 'Extreme Right Wing' or XRW).
60. 'White Nationalism' is a belief that mass migration from the 'non-white' world poses an existential threat to the so-called 'white race' and 'Western culture', with a resulting desire to create an all-white state. 'White Supremacism' is the belief that the Caucasian race is superior to all others in either a physical or spiritual sense. However, groups motivated by each ideology can still vary significantly in terms of motivating factors, and may additionally incorporate a variety of individual grievances, such as antisemitism or anti-government sentiment.
61. Across these two categories, there are *** organised groups with an overtly violent ideology—for example, National Action, Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) and System Resistance Network, which have all now been proscribed by the Government. National Action was banned in 2016, and SKD (assessed to have been inspired by the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division) in February 2020, with System Resistance Network being recognised as an alias of National Action at the same time. The issue of proscription is covered later in this Report.
62. In July 2018, JTAC assessed that *** with the ability and intent to conduct terrorist attacks:
The wider XRW movement ***; however, we assess that they remain focused on the so-called upcoming 'race war' for which they are preparing and ***.[3]
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