Number of right-wing extremists in jail has doubled since 2018

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In the wake of a review into the Government’s anti-terror programme, Prevent, Home Secretary Suella Braverman last month said the threat from right-wing extremism “must not be minimised. It is serious and it is growing.” From the comfort of their bedrooms, individuals are easily able to access right-wing extremist spaces, network with each other and move towards a radical mindset Ken McCallum, MI5 director general She said it must be “robustly addressed” but is “not the same either in nature or scale as the threat from Islamism”. In November, MI5 director general Ken McCallum described extreme right-wing terrorism as now a “diffuse online threat”, adding: “From the comfort of their bedrooms, individuals are easily able to access right-wing extremist spaces, network with each other and move towards a radical mindset.” Schoolboys account for the highest proportion of people considered to be most at risk of radicalisation by Prevent and schools are making the highest number of referrals to the scheme for the first time, according to previously published figures. A Home Office assessment from June 2021 found the extreme right-wing threat “is likely to increase over the next five years, with economic decline caused by Covid-19 being a likely driver of increased threat”.