56. When we spoke to the Director General of MI5 in April 2021, he was rather more sanguine regarding the particular ERWT threat posed by Covid-19. He observed that ***.[1] MI5 acknowledged, however, that:
increased online activity during the period of lockdown provided individuals with increased opportunities to engage with online extremist material and with individuals online. There is a realistic possibility that this will have reinforced and further developed the extremist beliefs of some individuals, including those engaged with RWE [Right-Wing Extremism].[2]
57. The Home Secretary confirmed that she was alive to the threat posed by the pandemic as a result of "the nation being locked down, locked up, etcetera, too many people at home on the internet, you know, and not seeing other people. We've touched on mental health. All those types of factors blended together of course could act as triggers and I think we should just be very mindful of that."[3] In June 2021, the Home Office forecast that the ERWT threat would increase in the foreseeable future, with the ramifications of Covid-19 as a catalyst:
our understanding of the future trajectory of the ERWT threat is aligned with the views of operational partners and our international partners; the threat is likely to increase over the next five years, with economic decline caused by COVID-19 being a likely driver of increased threat.[4]
D. It is not surprising that there are reports that Extreme Right-Wing Terrorist groups and individuals have sought to co-opt the Covid-19 pandemic, using conspiracy theories and exploiting community grievances to attempt to radicalise, recruit and inspire plots and attacks. The full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has yet to be seen—but we are assured that the Intelligence Community and the police have recognised the impact that events such as the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests may have had on the extremist beliefs of individuals.
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