TARGETS
167. MI5 provided the Committee with information on the individuals and communities who are subject to what they term 'grievance narratives' or targeting activity, by Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism (ERWT) groups and individuals.[1]
Ethnic and religious groups
168. Accelerated by the refugee crisis and recent Islamist terror attacks, Islamophobia has superseded general immigration as the key driver for the growth of the Far Right in the UK. 'Cultural Nationalists' commonly focus upon Islam, claiming it presents a threat to a so-called 'White, Christian Europe', and the Identitarian 'Great Replacement theory' alleges that mass migration of Muslims and the demographic growth of Islam present an existential threat to the West. However, anti-Muslim rhetoric is a consistent theme across all ideologies within the Far Right.
169. Antisemitism and Jewish conspiracy theories remain a key element of Far-Right rhetoric, and are particularly central to neo-Nazi and White Supremacist' narratives. Antisemitic narratives typically involve an alleged global conspiracy whereby Jews supposedly control Western governments to facilitate their own agendas.
170. ERWT grievances, particularly 'White Supremacist' narratives, centre upon the belief that the so-called 'white race' is superior to all others, and they target Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
171. In October 2020, the written evidence set out the threat level to six faith communities in the UK (the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh and Hindu communities) and it was assessed that Extreme Right-Wing Terrorists are more likely to target faith communities than terrorists of other ideologies and that the threat is greatest for Jewish and Muslim communities.
172. With regard to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, the written evidence noted:
- The recent BLM protests and counter-protests are ***.
- It is likely that BLM protests would present a ***.
- There is a realistic possibility that UK-based RW individuals ***.[2]
LGBTQ+ community
173. A number of ERWT grievance narratives advocate the defence of "so called 'traditional values', promoting the heterosexual cisgender family unit as the 'cornerstone' of some alleged 'ideal', claiming that LGBTQ+ communities present a threat to, and are at odds with, this vision".[3]
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