Far-right crew are 'threat to public safety'

Intelligence report reveals police kept tabs on white nationalist group during anti-asylum seeker protests

- BILLY BRIGGS

A FAR-RIGHT group behind anti-asylum seeker protests was trying to recruit "disgruntled locals" and is a "threat and risk" to public safety, says a UK-wide police body.

An intelligence report marked "official sensitive" by the National Police Coordination Centre (NPCC) reveals protests held in Erskine by Patriotic Alternative (PA) were under surveillance and the white nationalist group is viewed as a "national priority".

Last night an MP dubbed the group "a fairly pathetic bunch" and said the vast majority of people rejected their "ignorant bigotry".

The Ferret website revealed last year that PA was hijacking protests in Renfrewshire town and trying to exploit concerns over asylum seekers being housed in a local hotel.

Two members who travelled from England for the demos were later jailed for race hate crimes. One was a white supremacist while the other was linked to the banned neo-Nazi terror group, National Action.

The Home Office used the Muthu Hotel to house asylum seekers from January 2023, a move opposed by PA and a breakaway faction called Homeland.

Far-right activists were met with counter-protests by trade unions, anti-racism groups and community members. Asylum seekers were to be removed from the Erskine hotel by this month