British Prime Minister Theresa May missed rise in far-right terrorism in UK: Report

British Prime Minister Theresa May reacts as her shoe falls off whilst arriving at Finsbury Park Mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London, June 19, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has been accused of paying disproportionate attention to what she calls the threat from “Islamic extremism” while failing to notice the rise in the far-right terrorism threat.

While May has been busy blaming the recent wave of terror attacks in the UK over “evil” extremists influenced by a “perversion of Islamic teachings,” the recent attack on a mosque in London showed that she was looking in the wrong place, The Independent reported Tuesday.

According to the report, unpublished Home Office figures show that nearly one third of people being monitored under the Channel anti-terror program in 2016-17 leaned towards extreme right-wing ideologies and were vulnerable to radicalization.

The figure stood at around 25 per cent in 2015-16 and rose by around 10 percent in the following period.

The rise came into attention after 47-year-old Darren Osborne, a father-of-four from Cardiff, was arrested for running over Muslim worshipers outside a mosque in Finsbury Park on Monday.

Flowers and tributes are pictured in the Finsbury Park area of north London on June 20, 2017, following a van attack on worshipers on June 19. (Photo by AFP)

Eyewitnesses said Osborne shouted "I'm going to kill all Muslims," and made "taunting" gestures killing one man and injuring 11 others in the attack.

Another famous instance of far-right terrorism happened last year, when Thomas Mair shot and stabbed Jo Cox, a Labour Party Member of Parliament.

The Channel program is an extension of the so-called Prevent terror program, which was championed by May when she was Home Secretary.

Introduced with the 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act, the program and its over-exaggerated image of radicalism resulted in a wave of maltreatment against Muslims and prevented Muslim students from voicing their opinions in lectures and seminars for fear of being accused of extremism.

Tim Farron speaks up

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron said the government’s inaction in the face of far-right terror has created a “better climate” for more attacks.

“While all the rhetoric from the Conservative government has been about Islamic fundamentalism, it has largely ignored the rising threat from white extremists who are every bit as dangerous and depraved as any other terrorist,” he argued.

The Lib Dems leader, who has announced his upcoming resignation, said May doesn’t even know “where to start when it comes to bringing our divided communities together.”

Fiyaz Mughal, founder of Tell Mama, a group that fights Islamophobia in the UK, said there had been a “systemic failure” on government’s part in identifying the threat posed by the far-right.