This comes as a court in the UK has jailed a couple who promoted neo-Nazi ideas and even named their new-born baby after Germany’s Nazi-era dictator Adolf Hitler.
The jailed sentence issued on Tuesday in Birmingham Crown Court saw Adam Thomas, 22, and Claudia Patatas, 38, jailed for six years and six months for being a member of National Action, a banned far-right organization in the UK.
The judge said the two persons had “a long history of violent racist beliefs”.
“Its aims and objectives are the overthrow of democracy in this country by serious violence and murder, and the imposition of a Nazi-style state which would eradicate whole sections of society by such violence and mass murder,” said Melbourne Inman after handing down the sentences.
The court also said the couple had chosen Adolf as a middle name for their new-born son, with the father, Thomas, saying it was in admiration of Hitler. They had also cushions in their home with signs of swastika.
Reports earlier last week suggested that the couple had also given instructions to their other child, a daughter, to give a Nazi salute, a practice that was once a norm in Hitler-dominated Germany.
Inman also sentenced Darren Fletcher, a friend of the couple, to five years behind bars, saying he had also admitted being a member of the National Action. Three others were given lighter sentences for same offences.
Also in December, the British government has received a significantly high number of complaints regarding the surge in far-right activity in the country as it seeks as part of a program called Prevent to stop people being attracted and recruited by terrorist groups.
Government officials said Thursday that a total of 7,318 people had been referred to the Prevent program over concerns related to extreme right-wing activity over the past twelve months.
They said the figure of direct far-right referrals, a total of 1,312 cases, showed a major increase of 36 percent compared to the previous period in which some 968 cases had been recorded.
The BBC said in a report that there were questions regarding the British government’s determination to tackle far-right extremism as many of those referred to Prevent, more than 40 percent, left the anti-terrorism process without requiring further action.
The findings come amid a surge in far-right sentiments among the UK public. There have been numerous reports of attacks by racist and nationalist groups on members of ethnic minorities, especially the Muslims. In a most recent case in November, which sparked huge outrage, a Syrian refugee boy was racially abused in his school in Huddersfield, in northern England. The assault on Jamal was defended and justified by Tommy Robinson, the top Islamopphobe figure in Britain, with the far-right activist saying the Muslim boy was the victim of his own conduct in the school against the white and non-Muslims.
Britain has also been a major hotbed for terrorism recruitment over the past several years. British nationals have joined terrorist groups like Daesh, once dominant in countries like Iraq and Syria, on a considerable scale and since a militancy got out of control in the Middle East. Many fear those nationals could pose serious security threats to Britain once they return home.