LONDON: The UK's approach to tackling violent extremism has been criticised as a “two-tiered approach”, with far-right attacks not being taken as seriously as Islamic attacks, a leading think tank has said.
The Royal United Services Institute has raised concerns that far-right violence is often dismissed as “hooliganism” by politicians, prosecutors and security agencies, The Observer reported on Sunday.
In contrast, similar acts by Islamic extremists would likely be quickly categorized as terrorism, argues the think tank, which published the paper.
The criticism comes amid a week-long riot across England and Northern Ireland, during which refugee hotels and mosques were attacked.
The violence has been linked to neo-Nazi and far-right activities, highlighting what RUSI calls a “double standard” in how we deal with different forms of extremism.
RUSI, founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington and often cited as the world’s oldest think tank, says this double standard has allowed far-right extremism to flourish in the UK.
Dr. Jessica White, Acting Director of RUSI's Terrorism and Conflict Research Group, along with Claudia Wallner, Research Fellow, and Emily Winterbotham, Director of Terrorism and Conflict Studies, co-authored this article.
“RUSI’s research shows that the nature of far-right violence, often seen as low-impact and inconsistent, coupled with institutional bias and racism, means that far-right violence has consistently failed to elicit the same responses from politicians, intelligence agencies and media as jihadists,” they write.
“There is a clear double standard, or two-tiered approach, in how we deal with different forms of radicalization, particularly when comparing security and legal responses to far-right and Islamist radicalization.”
“Far-right-motivated violence is often categorized as simply ‘bullying’ or hooliganism, while similar acts motivated by Islamic extremists may be outright categorized as terrorism. This inconsistency undermines the perceived seriousness of the far-right threat and hinders the political will and legal norms necessary to take equitable action.”
An article has criticised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his description of the attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers as “far-right hooliganism”, according to The Observer.
While acknowledging the ideological underpinnings of the violence, the author argues that the term “thug” diminishes the nature of the riots and the groups behind them.
RUSI calls for far-right violence to be deemed terrorism. Recognizing far-right violence as terrorism would be “consistent with a fairer legal strategy that ensures that all forms of violence are prosecuted seriously,” RUSI said.
It has been argued that the recent riots should be seen as part of a wider “pattern of violence” across Europe that has been largely ignored by politicians and the public.
“Similar far-right riots took place in Dublin in 2013 and Chemnitz, Germany in 2018, both in response to stabbings that sparked widespread anti-immigrant sentiment, with far-right groups using the incidents to incite violence against migrants and refugees,” the report also said.
RUSI's findings come after recent allegations of bias within the UK's legal and political systems, particularly in the context of the pro-Palestinian protests that have taken place since October 7.
