London: Four serving members of the British army have been arrested on suspicion of being members of the recently banned neo-Nazi group National Action. A 22-year-old from Birmingham, a 32-year-old from Powys, a 24-year-old from Ipswich and a 24-year-old from Northampton, all men, have been arrested under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of being members of a proscribed organisation, West Midlands police said. An army spokeswoman confirmed that serving members were among those arrested. “We can confirm that a number of serving members of the army have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for being associated with a proscribed far-right group,” she said. “These arrests are the consequence of a Home Office police force-led operation supported by the army. This is now the subject of a civilian police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further.” All four are being held at a police station in the West Midlands and a number of properties are being searched in connection with the arrests.
The police force said the men had been arrested on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000, namely being members of a proscribed organisation, National Action. A statement from West Midlands police said: “The arrests were pre-planned and intelligence-led; there was no threat to the public’s safety.” The arrests were carried out with West Midlands counter-terrorism unit in conjunction with units from Wales and the east Midlands.
National Action, an antisemitic, white supremacist group, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December by the home secretary. Amber Rudd said the group had no place in British society. “I am clear that the safety and security of our families, communities and country comes first,” she said. “So today I am taking action to proscribe the neo-Nazi group National Action. This will mean that being a member of, or inviting support for, this organisation will be a criminal offence. “National Action is a racist, antisemitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology, and I will not stand for it. It has absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone.”
The group, which lauded the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox, has held demonstrations in UK cities with banners declaring: “Hitler was right”. The slogan on its former website was “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain”, which was the only statement given in court by Cox’s murderer, Thomas Mair. The group has been filmed telling a small group of supporters about “the disease of international Jewry” and that “when the time comes they’ll be in the chambers”. It has also been filmed training supporters in hand-to-hand combat.
