Far-right threat may be receding since General Election

Lord Evans of Weardale has suggested that the threat from the rise of far-right terrorism in Britain could be diminishing after Boris Johnson’s election victory in December.

The former head of MI5 made the comments claiming that supporters of the far-right ideology feel they are being listened to at the ballot box, making them feel less ‘alienated’.

Lord Evans, who led Britain’s domestic security service between 2006 and 2013, suggested that being listened to made them less likely to be exploited by far-right groups such as the British National party (BNP), English Defence League (EDL) and National Action.

He commented: “Whatever you think of the outcome of the recent election in the UK, the fact that some of the legitimate concerns that were being used as a pretext by English nationalists have now been formally acknowledged at the ballot box might be a good outcome, even though it is sort of disconcerting for southern liberals.

“There was a significant alienated and disenfranchised group out there who didn’t think the system was taking any notice of them. And that’s where you need to be concerned about extremists exploiting legitimate concerns. Disaffected English nationalists were manifesting themselves at the extremes in things like the British National party and National Action, which fed the undertone that articulated itself as extreme rightwing terrorism.”

Evans made the comments in an interview with the US-based Combat Terrorism Center.