Far-right extremists are "weaponizing internet culture" in an increasingly coordinated effort to spread their radical ideas around the world – and the UK is their next major target, The Independent reported on Monday.

Researchers who spent three months undercover inside European and American movements said Britain was seen as key a "bridge" to link up growing radical movements in the EU and US.

Julia Ebner, a research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), told The Independent members of the ethno-nationalist Identitarian movement met in London over the weekend with the aim of starting a new British branch.

Among key figures believed to be at the meeting was the Austrian co-leader of Génération Identitaire Martin Sellner, who also headed the Defend Europe mission that claimed to combat the flow of refugees from Libya to Europe, and American alt-right activist Brittany Pettibone.

Ebner said the extremists were also interested in setting up branches in Ireland and Scotland, adding: "They’ve seen that there is a vacancy there because the UK has either very traditionalist street movements like the English Defence League (EDL) and British National Party (BNP), or the very hard-right and violent ones like National Action who are now terrorist organizations."

"There wasn’t really anything in between and that’s the niche they are trying to fill," Ebner said.

Official figures suggests Britain is an increasingly fertile ground for the divisive ideology, with police figures showing dramatic rises in hate crime as around a third of extremists referred to Government programmes are from the far-right.

The terror attack that targeted Muslim worshippers in Finsbury Park, murder of Labour MP Jo Cox and pipe bombing plot have all been linked to extreme nationalism and there are fears of more violence if radicalization continues.

Researchers warned that the sophistication of far-right messaging had been underestimated after discovering some networks were using leaked strategic communication documents from the GCHQ and Nato to run campaigns against their own governments. 

The Identitarian movement, which originated in France, is a rapidly expanding ethno-nationalist group focusing on the preservation of European culture and identity.

Source: MENA