The UK government imposes financial sanctions on the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour for suspected terrorist activities
London: So, the UK government has taken a big step against the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour. They’re the first extreme right-wing group to get hit with financial sanctions. Pretty wild, right?
The Treasury thinks they have good reason to suspect that Blood and Honour is up to no good. They’re allegedly involved in promoting terrorism and trying to recruit people for those activities. Not cool at all.
With this asset freeze, no one in the UK can send money or provide financial services to Blood and Honour or its affiliates, like Combat 18 and 28 Radio. This is a serious move to cut off their funding.
Now, this isn’t the same as banning them outright. The Home Office usually does that with proscription orders. Instead, the Treasury is focusing on their finances, which is a different approach.
Blood and Honour was started back in 1987 by Ian Stuart Donaldson, who was the lead singer of a skinhead band called Skrewdriver. He thought the National Front wasn’t racist enough, so he created this group.
They promote white power through music and still hold festivals. Combat 18 used to provide security for them but ended up taking control of one of their factions. And 28 Radio? That was just an online station.
Donaldson once said he’d die to keep the country “pure,” and if it meant bloodshed, so be it. He passed away in a car crash in 1993, but Blood and Honour has kept going.
In the last ten years, the Home Office has banned six extreme right-wing groups as terrorist organizations, starting with National Action in 2016. But this financial action against Blood and Honour is a first under the Treasury’s sanctions.
So, while they’re not banned outright, this asset freeze is a significant blow to their operations. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
