A freedom of information response revealed there have been 193 charges in Scotland under the Terrorism Act 2000. The alleged offences link to banned groups like the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Freedom Fighters, the IRA, and neo-Nazi group, National Action.
The number of Scottish terrorism charges in relation to Palestine Action in the last seven months is more than all the other charges put together since the 2000 Terrorism Act came into force, new figures reveal
In the past the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency kept secret the salmon farms it censured on animal welfare grounds. Now it has changed its mind.
A freedom of information response revealed there have been 193 charges in Scotland under the Terrorism Act 2000. The alleged offences link to banned groups like the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Freedom Fighters, the IRA, and neo-Nazi group, National Action.
There have been 66 alleged offences in Scotland regarding support for banned loyalist paramilitary groups like the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Freedom Fighters, and Red Hand Commando since the Terrorism Act 2000 came into force.
A freedom of information (FoI) response from the Crown Office also revealed there were 13 charges linked to the Irish Republican Army, five alleging support for the banned neo-Nazi group, National Action, two for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), and one relating to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, aka Islamic State.
Section 13 of the Terrorism Act makes it an offence to wear, carry or display an item in public in a way that arouses “reasonable suspicion” that a person is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation.
Crimes included a man successfully prosecuted after being caught with an Ulster Volunteer Force flag (UVF) on an orange walk in Glasgow in 2023, while a Livingston woman was fined for hanging an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) flag on her house while singing sectarian songs with lyrics in support of the outlawed terror group.
The figures were obtained by the Northern Irish investigative website, The Detail, and shared with The Ferret.
Experts said loyalist paramilitary groups are still active despite being banned under terror laws, with one claiming their support network in Scotland remains “essential” in terms of fundraising and a supportive subculture.
The Crown Office said all reports of criminality are “carefully considered on their own unique facts and circumstances”.
Owned by readers. Built for accountability.
The Ferret is member-owned journalism. That means we can follow leads that matter even when they’re uncomfortable for the powerful.
The FoI response revealed that since the Terrorism Act came into force, there have been 193 charges relating to 157 people accused in 155 cases.
Three of the more serious cases are ongoing while 30 people have been convicted at sheriff courts resulting in 18 fines, 10 admonishments, a community payback order and one person put on probation.
Five charges related to National Action, a banned neo-Nazi group that plotted to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper in an act of “white jihad”, and celebrated the murder of the MP Jo Cox.
National Action was proscribed as a terror group in 2016 but emerged under the name Scottish Dawn in early 2017. It was banned under terror laws in September that year after an undercover investigation by The Ferret revealed its links to National Action.
Our story follows comments by former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan who was reported to police after apparently backing the IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah at a rally in Northern Ireland. Sheridan reportedly defended his comments, saying: “There is zero criminality in the comments.”
Dr Aaron Edwards, an academic at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst said banned loyalist groups are still in place with a paramilitary command structure, including in Belfast, Londonderry, and Portadown.
“The size and shape depends on where you look and they tend to be involved in low level crime: extortion from businesses, the taxing of drug dealers, everyday illegality, threats and intimidation,” he added. “They are persistent – a perennial feature. They are influential in parts of society, low-income neighbourhoods, akin to organised crime gangs elsewhere. But they are more muscular because of the paramilitary structure.”
In terms of Scotland, he said these groups have an “essential” support network in the form of flute bands, orange marches and a paramilitary subculture. “The connection is strong,” he added.
Describing the figures for Scotland as “remarkable”, Edwards said they suggest that enforcement of a UK-wide law is “more robust” with crimes not tolerated, contrasting the situation in Northern Ireland where “flags with paramilitary slogans are everywhere which show support is tolerated”.
Professor Dominic Bryan, a social anthropologist at Queen’s University Belfast, said that in some areas of Northern Ireland the organisations are “very involved in organised crime” including drugs, money lending and extortion. “There remain feuds within groups over control of areas – local big men – probably not unlike Glasgow.
"They are all involved in levels of coercive control in Protestant working class areas and represent themselves through displays of flags, murals, memorials and in some flute bands and in the organisation of some 11th [of July] night bonfires.” Bonfires commemorate King William of Orange’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 because they were lit to guide him.
He added: “There have always been links to Scotland and the most obvious is through flute bands that move between both jurisdictions in the summer months. Police Scotland and the Orange Order in Scotland are far stricter and stop displays of flags by bands. In Northern Ireland it is not uncommon for bands to march through town and city centres displaying paramilitary flags. Scotland has also been home for a few loyalists who have had to get out of Northern Ireland, such as Jonny 'Mad Dog' Adair.”
The Detail revealed last month that there were eight times more prosecutions in Northern Ireland of republican paramilitary displays than loyalist ones over the past decade.
Between 2015 and 2025, there were 94 prosecutions under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act. Of those, 83 were linked to republican groups and 11 to loyalist organisations.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has repeatedly come in for criticism over its approach to dealing with displays that glorify paramilitary groups.
The PSNI told The Detail then it is “fully committed to ensuring the fair, effective and legitimate safeguarding of people and property while taking action against any offenders”.
Daniel Holder, director of the Committee for the Administration of Justice, an independent human rights organisation in Northern Ireland, said: “We still have such armed groups operational in certain areas [in Northern Ireland]. This includes elements of loyalist paramilitaries in some areas being involved in racist intimidation – an issue called out by both the UN anti-racism committee and the Independent Reporting Commission.”
Independent journalism isn’t free, but it is essential.
We investigate power, money, and decisions made in public view. Reader support protects our independence and gives us time to do work that others won’t.
The number of Scottish terrorism charges in relation to Palestine Action in the last seven months is more than all the other charges put together since the 2000 Terrorism Act came into force, new figures reveal
The Ferret visited a Scottish golf course that's won plaudits for its eco-friendly management to learn about the relationship the industry can have with nature and the environment.
We asked about the environmental records of Scotland’s 25 best golf courses. The US president’s resort in the north east was the only one to breach its licence in recent years.
Climate change is causing rising sea levels and coastal erosion and 109 Scottish golf courses are at risk. We examined the issue as part of Green drive: Golf and the environmental crisis – a special Ferret series on golf and the environment.
