Home Secretary Amber Rudd today banned a neo-Nazi group, branding it “racist, anti-Semitic and homo- phobic”.
The Cabinet minister took action to proscribe the National Action group. Its members have praised Thomas Mair, who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox in June.
Ms Rudd said: “As Home Secretary, I am clear that the safety and security of our families, communities and country comes first.
"National Action is a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology, and I will not stand for it. It has absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone.”
Proscribing the group means that being a member of it will become a criminal offence. It is the first far-Right group to be hit with such a ban.
Hours after the crackdown was launched, Theresa May took a swipe at Labour over a series of claims it has faced about alleged anti-Semitism.
At the Conservative friends of Israel lunch in Westminster, she said: “No matter what Labour say ... they cannot ignore what has been happening in their party.
"Anti-Semitism should have no place in politics and no place in this country.”
The Government has accepted a new international definition of anti-Semitism in a bid to crackdown on such offences.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn backed the move. His spokesman said: “Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party share the view that language or behaviour that displays hatred towards Jews is anti-Semitism, and is as repugnant and unacceptable as any other form of racism.”
