Children 'taught racism' by extremist family members

'By the time they are five or six, sadly, they are pretty much indoctrinated into being against different ethnicities'

- MAYA OPPENHEIM, JOE MIDDLETON

Nigel Bromage, who was involved in far-right groups for two decades but now runs a deradicalisation charity, told The Independent the youngest person that his organisation has supported was a boy who was using neo-Nazi references after being radicalised by his older brother.

Discussing the recent explosion of violence, he warned the far right is radicalising lay people to use as “pawns” to perpetrate violence and destruction. Extremists have managed to get people to believe the misinformation and lies they are pushing and mobilise them as people “feel voiceless and unheard”, he added.

His exclusive interview comes in the wake of far-right violence erupting across the UK in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport. False information spread rapidly online claiming the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who came to the UK on a small boat crossing.

Rioters have attacked mosques, ambushed riot police, set fire to a hotel housing migrants and torched a public library and Citizens Advice Bureau building.

Mr Bromage, director of Exit Hate Trust which helps people who want to leave racist groups, said his organisation had come across children who have been radicalised by parents or older siblings. One case involved a nine-year-old who had been fed extremist views by his brother.

The 59-year-old said the child’s older brother became involved in the movement via extreme right-wing forums – explaining his organisation had helped both brothers leave the far right.

Nazism is built on the notion the “struggle is from the cradle to the grave”, Mr Bromage said. “When babies are born, they are dedicated to Adolf Hitler and national socialism and they will be brought up believing that they have to protect the white race and there is an ongoing war against the system.