Plans to ban white supremacist group The Base

LONDON: The Government is taking steps to ban another white supremacist group in the UK. The Home Secretary wants to outlaw The Base as a terrorist organisation.

Priti Patel is asking Parliament to proscribe “the extreme right-wing terrorist group The Base, a predominantly US-based militant white supremacist organisation seeking to establish a white ethno-state”, the Home Office said.

According to the department, the group was first formed in 2018 and shares many of its aims and ideologies with Atomwaffen Division and its alias, National Socialist Order, which was proscribed earlier this year.

The Base has “celebrated and promoted the use of violence in an attempt to establish a fascist, white ethno-state by means of a ‘race war’, and members are known to have engaged in weapons and explosives training”, the Home Office said.

“Its founder has also published a series of videos under his alias covering topics including ‘lone wolf’ activity, advocating guerrilla warfare, and leaderless resistance.

“In January 2020, alleged members of the group were arrested in the US, having been under FBI surveillance for months.” The proposal will now be debated and, subject to approval, come into force later this week. This would make it a criminal offence to be a member of or invite support for the group, with those found guilty facing up to 14 years in prison since maximum sentences were increased under the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021.

Ms Patel said: “We continue to take robust action against evil white supremacist groups, who target vulnerable people across the world to join in their hateful ideologies and their sick promotion of violence. I am committed to making it as difficult as possible for these organisations to operate in the UK, both by banning them and increasing the penalties for membership or support, in order to protect the public and our national security.”

The Base would become the fifth extreme right-wing terrorist group to be proscribed in the UK, and one of three to be banned in the last year.