98. In May 2019, BuzzFeed News reported that internal guidance issued by the British Army to help officers spot Right-Wing Extremists had been leaked online, and was being circulated on UK Far-Right news and conspiracy websites. The guidance, 'Extreme Indicators and Warnings', listed a range of behaviours—in addition to indicators such as individuals engaging in discussions on an "impending Race War", or endorsing the creation of 'white only' communities, officers are told to look out for individuals who "involve colleagues in closed social media groups" and "actively seek out impressionable individuals to indoctrinate or recruit".[1]
99. In March 2020, it was reported that two Royal Navy sailors had been permitted to remain in the Royal Navy despite being named as members of Generation Identity:
An undercover journalist said they were serving together at a naval base in Plymouth, where they believed fellow sailors held similar views. After his story was published in August, the Royal Navy promised an investigation but The Independent has learned they were not disciplined.[2]
Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate told the Committee that the organisation had been instrumental in identifying these two individuals:
We [Hope Not Hate] had an issue a year ago with the Navy where we identified two very active Generation Identity people who were in the Navy, one of them who was on the Trident submarine. We raised with the authorities at the highest level via Ruth Smeeth, who was obviously then an MP, and, you know, one of them would boast online, as well as pushing out all this kind of, you know, stuff about the end of the west and everything like that would post stuff about how he was spreading stuff around his unit. The Navy didn't take any action at all, even though they publicly said that they would.[3]
100. We subsequently asked Defence Intelligence (DI) if members of the Armed Forces are allowed to be members of extreme organisations that are not proscribed—and indeed if there are any restrictions on the type of organisations that the military are permitted to join - and were told:
MOD policies do not explicitly state which organisations a Service person may be a member of, nor do they place limits on the nature of organisations that a Service person may join. However, any extremist ideology is completely at odds with the values of our Armed Forces and MOD works closely with police and security partners to ensure that any activity or membership of concern is thoroughly investigated. The MOD routinely works with the Home Office to implement the Prevent programme across the Armed Forces, including training personnel to ensure that they are aware of what to do if they believe an individual is showing signs of radicalisation. In addition, Regular Service personnel are prohibited from engaging in political activity and this may have a bearing on some cases . . .[4]
- ↑ The British Army's Guide for Spotting "Extreme Right-Wing" Soldiers Has Leaked Online', BuzzFeed News, 29 May 2019.
- ↑ 'Royal Navy allows members of white nationalist group to remain in service', The Independent, 15 March 2020.
- ↑ Oral evidence - Nick Lowles, Hope Not Hate, 16 December 2020.
- ↑ Written evidence - DI, 26 May 2021.
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