- encapsulate a belief in the spiritual superiority of the 'White Race', often describing racial differences in quasi-religious terms (such as the 'Aryan soul').[1]
16. In January 2020, there was a further shift in the terminology used by the intelligence and security Agencies,[2] with Right-Wing Extremist ideologies brigaded slightly differently into the following categories:
- 'White Supremacists' and 'White Nationalists';
- 'Cultural Nationalists'; and
- 'Identitarians'.
(We consider how these terms compare internationally later in the Report.)
The importance of terminology
17. We questioned the efficacy and relevance of this plethora of categories and definitions, suggesting that this 'alphabet soup' of terminology was confusing, and whether it was relevant when it came to tackling the threat. MI5, CTP and the Home Office were, however, clear that having specific terminology which everyone recognised was essential. The Director General of MI5 explained:
We are not sort of fetishising endless subdivisions of these categories for its own sake. It is because, to make good sophisticated judgements about risk, we need to think more clearly about this phenomenon than the subjects of interest themselves think about it . . . one of the hardest pieces here is to differentiate between very aggressive violent rhetoric from many, many individuals and the much smaller number who will actually progress to plotting terrorism itself.[3]
18. The Head of CTP was clear that "defined language and defined ideology" was essential when it came to being able to put an "evidential case before the Crown Prosecution Services that gets over section 1 of TACT 2000"[4] and secure a conviction. He noted that after an attack "you will see in the media we quite often say 'we are open minded as to the motive' and 'counter-terrorism is supporting the local force' and that is because the only way to determine it is by deep investigation and the thing we are looking for is ideology".[5]
19. Homeland Security Group also endorsed this detailed categorisation, noting that in the online space it was an essential tool when dealing with communication service providers who were "looking for a degree of intellectual rigour" in determining the differing levels of XRW and ERWT material online.[6]
20. When the Committee met the Home Secretary in May 2021, she acknowledged that this complex terminology was a "challenging area", but that it was an important tool in
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