In the wake of the right-wing terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, countries across the globe are scrambling to improve surveillance and monitoring of right-wing extremists. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate review of New Zealand’s security agencies, with 250 police officers investigating why the terrorist was not on any security… Continue reading “How to Prevent Hate”
The far right recognizes the value, both in training and in terms of access to arms and equipment, that active and former soldiers bring to its organizations. In early October 2018, a photo emerged that showed former leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) posing with a group of Army Cadets.… Continue reading “The Far Right Has a History of Infiltrating the British Army”
As recently published Prevent data shows, radical right extremism presents a very real threat to the UK’s domestic security. That to date, Prevent – the UK Government’s counter-extremism strategy – has been almost exclusively deployed in response to Islamist-inspired extremism, ensuring it is effective and appropriate for the newly emergent radical right threat presents a… Continue reading “The Counter-Extremism Response to the Radical Right: The Need for New Thinking”
Unless we start to resolve the systemic challenges in our communities, we are doing nothing to mitigate the racist stereotyping articulated by Neeson. A few weeks ago, Liam Neeson, the actor best known for his role as a protective father in the Taken movies and as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s mentor, sparked controversy due to comments he… Continue reading “Liam Neeson And The Prevalence Of Racial Stereotyping”
This month the former head of counter terrorism policing, Sir Mark Rowley, called for politicians, the media and the public not to underestimate the threat posed by far-right groups, highlighting as an example the step-change in organisation and sophistication represented by the proscribed National Action group. This is not about being alarmist, but we have… Continue reading “Time to “wake up” to the threat of the radical right”
The alt-right mobilised online to back far-right parties at Sweden’s general election – but are their tactics no longer effective? Recent years have seen the far and extreme right wing building international coalitions to disseminate propaganda in an attempt to bring the public around to their talking points, including the development of large networks of… Continue reading “Meme warfare in the Swedish context”
Every effort should be made to expeditiously remove content produced by a terrorist group that incites people to commit violence. But the themes that drive this content can be used to redirect people to more positive paths The recent news that Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist is seeking lifelong anonymity has once again re-ignited the issue… Continue reading “Simply Removing All Extremist Content Won’t Stop Radicalisation”
Having worked in the probation service for over 16 years, I was always exposed, and privy, to the ugly realities of individual and collective drivers for the radical right. However, the punishment and rehabilitative ideal at a practitioner level was far different to that of building resilient communities and engaging civic society groups in my… Continue reading “The Many Faces of the Far Right”
In late May 2018, I was invited to a conference to run workshops with a group of safeguarding professionals in London. The topic of my talk was “Right wing extremism and the Prevent Duty”. While preparing for these workshops, I reflected upon my work over the last eight years; first within counter terrorism policing, then… Continue reading “The Cuckoo in the Nest – Countering Violent Extremism”
The Home Office has recently released its latest set of statistics on the UK Prevent strategy and Channel programme for the period April 2016 to March 2017. Perhaps the standout headline was that radical right referrals to Prevent have risen by more than a quarter since the previous year. In fact, individuals with a radical right ideology… Continue reading “Journey of a Radical Right Prevent Referral”