UK set to proscribe US neo-Nazi group The Base

The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has called for the proscription of The Base, a neo-Nazi group based in the United States. This would make being a member of the group, or showing support for it, punishable by up to fourteen years in prison.

Founded in 2018, The Base is an American neo-Nazi hate group comprising of self-proclaimed white supremacists and fascists. The group’s founder, Rinaldo Nazzaro, reportedly once told a potential recruit that The Base was mostly made up of “National Socialists and/or fascists, although we also have some run-of-the-mill white nationalists.” He added that the recruit would “be stepping into probably the most extreme group of pro-white people that you can probably come across.”  

The Home Secretary 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.”

Earlier this year, Ms Patel called for the proscription of the neo-Nazi group, Atomwaffen Division (AWD). This would make membership of the group punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Last year, Ms Patel proscribed the neo-Nazi Sonnenkrieg Division as a terrorist group. This followed the proscription of National Action in 2016, for which Campaign Against Antisemitism had called.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.