UK moves to ban membership of more right-wing terror groups

LONDON: The UK Government has moved to ban membership of more right-wing terrorism groups. A proscription order has been put before Parliament which would make joining the organisation Sonnenkrieg Division illegal in the UK, the Home Office said.

The proposal has to be debated and is subject to Parliament backing it.Laws coming into force on Tuesday will also recognise System Resistance Network as an alias of the already-proscribed group National Action. Anyone found to be a member of, or offering support to, the groups could now face up to 10 years in jail.

The proscription order also proposes Teyre Azadiye Kurdistan (TAK) and Hezen Parastina Gel (HPG) are listed as aliases for Partiya Karkeren Kurdistani (PKK), which translates as the Kurdistan Worker’s Party.

The PKK has “long been considered to be involved in terrorism”, a department spokesman said, and already appears on the Home Office’s Proscribed Terrorist Organisations list.Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Recent attacks here and in Germany have highlighted the threat we continue to face from violent extremism. We are working to keep the public safe by increasing funding for counter terror police and strengthening the law to keep terrorists locked up for longer.

“By proscribing these groups we are making it much harder for them to spread their hateful rhetoric.” The decision was made after a meeting of the Proscription Review Group, made up of police and other authorities who assess the risk posed by groups considered for proscription.