LONDON: Britain's approach to tackling extremism is being criticised as being “two-faced”, with far-right terrorism not being taken as seriously as Islamist terrorism, according to a leading think tank.
The Royal United Services Institute has raised concerns that right-wing violence is often dismissed as “just violence” by politicians, prosecutors and security agencies, The Observer reported on Sunday.
In contrast, similar acts committed by Islamic extremists would likely be immediately classified as terrorism, the think tank argued in an article published in the newspaper.
The criticism comes amid a week of rioting across Britain and Northern Ireland, in which refugee hotels and mosques were targeted.
The violence has been linked to neo-Nazi and far-right activity, highlighting what RUSI describes as a “double standard” in how it deals with different forms of extremism.
RUSI, which was founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington and is often cited as the world's oldest think tank, said these double standards had allowed far-right extremism to flourish in Britain.
The article was co-authored by Dr. Jessica White, acting director of RUSI's Terrorism and Conflict Research Group, research scientist Claudia Wallner, and Emily Winterbottom, director of Terrorism and Conflict Research.
They wrote: “RUSI's research suggests that far-right violence is often seen as low-impact and isolated, linked to institutional bias and racism, and has historically not garnered the same response from politicians, security services and the media as jihadist violent extremism.
“There is a clear double standard or two-tiered approach to how we deal with different forms of extremism, particularly when we compare security and legal responses to far-right and Islamist violent extremism.
“While far-right motivated violence is often categorized as simple ‘assault’ or acts of violence, similar acts motivated by Islamic extremism are more likely to be quickly categorized as terrorism. This discrepancy undermines the perceived seriousness of the far-right threat and hinders the political will and necessary legal precedent to take corresponding action.”
According to The Observer, the article criticised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for describing recent attacks on hotels housing refugees as “an act of far-right violence”.
While acknowledging the ideological roots of the violence, the authors argued that the term “violence” minimizes the organized and ideological nature of the riots and the groups behind them.
RUSI has called for serious incidents of far-right violence to be treated as terrorism. Recognizing serious incidents of far-right violence as terrorism would be “consistent with a more equitable legal strategy, ensuring that all forms of extremism are prosecuted with the seriousness they deserve,” it said.
The recent riots, it has been argued, should be seen as part of a wider “pattern of violence” across Europe that has been largely overlooked by politicians and the public alike.
It added: “Similar far-right riots occurred in Dublin in 2023 and in Kemitz, Germany in 2018. Both occurred in response to stabbing incidents that sparked widespread anti-immigrant sentiment, and which far-right groups used to incite violence against migrants and refugees.”
RUSI's findings follow recent claims of bias within the UK's legal and political systems, particularly in the context of pro-Palestinian protests since 7 October.
