UK freezes assets of extreme-right group Blood and Honour for alleged terrorism

The UK government has imposed a full asset freeze against the extreme-right group Blood and Honour, in its first use of a domestic sanctions regime against right-wing terrorism.

In a statement released on Wednesday, PM Keir Starmer’s government said it suspected the group “of being involved in terrorist activities”.

As well as freezing Blood and Honour’s assets, the sanctions make it illegal for anyone in the UK to offer it funding or financial services.

The sanctions also extend to the group’s aliases, which include 28 Radio and Combat 18.

“The designation of Blood and Honour is a clear signal that the UK works proactively to stop terrorist financing and will take action against any who try to exploit the UK financial system for this activity,” the British government said.

The neo-Nazi group was founded in 1987 by Ian Stuart Donaldson, the lead singer of the skinhead band Skrewdriver, who died in a car crash in 1993.

Its name is taken from a Nazi slogan that was used by the Hitler Youth.

The asset freeze, which comes as part of a UK Treasury-led initiative, is different from the Home Office’s use of proscription to ban far-right organisations.

Six white supremacist groups are currently proscribed under the British Terrorism Act. They include the Base, Sonnenkrieg Division, the National Action and Feuerkrieg Division.

Sanctions against Blood and Honour comes shortly after the billionaire Elon Musk called for the release of Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist, from prison.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month sentence for repeating libellous claims against the young Syrian refugee Jamal Hijazi.