Suspected right-wing terrorist arrested in Leeds

Man arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism in ‘intelligence-led’ operation

Arrest was made by counterterror police (PA)

An alleged right-wing extremist has been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism.

Counterterror police are searching the 33-year-old man’s home in Leeds following an “intelligence-led” operation.

Investigators said the man was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts.

“He has been taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning,” a spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing North East said.

“This is a pre-planned, intelligence-led arrest as part of an investigation into suspected extreme right-wing activity.”

Superintendent Chris Bowen urged anyone with concerns to speak to local officers, or contact the national counterterror reporting service.

“I understand our communities will have concerns about this police activity but I want to offer my reassurance that public safety is our top priority,” he said.

It comes after the head of UK counterterror policing warned of a rise in far-right activity.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu told The Independent: “We’re dealing with a record number of operations and the potential of a growing extreme threat from the extreme far-right community for all kinds of reasons – not just because of the Islamist threat but things like Brexit, and some of the far-right political rhetoric which hasn’t helped.”

Speaking last month, he urged the public to stay alert and warned of “insidious tactics” being used to recruit online.

The counterextremism group Hope Not Hate has found that children as young as 13 were becoming involved in a new wave of neo-Nazi groups that are gathering support on the internet.

“The trend towards younger, more violent Nazis is a real concern and needs to be monitored closely,” researchers said.

“The threat of far-right terrorism comes from both organised groups, like National Action, but increasingly from lone actors who get radicalised on the internet.”

Security services say the dominant terror threat to the UK comes from Isis and other Islamist groups, but have warned of the growing risk posed by the far right following the Finsbury Park attack and murder of Jo Cox.

Neo-Nazi group National Action became the first right-wing group banned in Britain in 2016.

Former members include a man who plotted to murder a Labour MP, another who tried to behead an Asian man in Tesco, a teenager who tried to make a pipe bomb and an extremist who planned a massacre at an LGBT+ pride event.

The proportion of far-right terror suspects has been rising in the UK, and the number of people referred to the Prevent programme over suspected far-right extremism has rocketed by 36 per cent in a year.

In the year to September, 40 per cent of terror suspects arrested were white, 33 per cent were Asian, 12 per cent were black and 14 per cent were recorded as other.

Police say 14 Islamist terror plots and four from far-right extremists have been foiled since the Westminster attack in March 2017.