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Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland murdered hundreds of people during The Troubles. But far right activists flew their flag at an anti-immigration rally despite terror laws banning public support for terrorists.
The flag of banned loyalist terrorist groups and a neo-Nazi banner were displayed at a protest in Edinburgh organised by a far right group called the Scottish Defence League.
The anti-immigration demonstration took place on 15 August in the centre of Scotland’s capital on Princes Street during its busiest month of the year for tourism.
Flags on display included one with the logos of both the Ulster Freedom Fighters and Ulster Defence Association – paramilitary groups from Northern Ireland banned under terror laws.
Another flag on display had the names of two neo-Nazi groups – “Combat 18” and “Blood and Honour”, the latter of which was sanctioned by the UK government last year due to suspected terrorist activities.
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Showing public support for proscribed organisations is a criminal offence in the UK and anyone found guilty of the crime could face a 10 year prison sentence.
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.
The Scottish Greens urged Police Scotland to investigate the incident while an expert on far right extremism who testifies at terrorism trials said the public display of support for terrorism was “alarming”.
Human rights campaigners have already expressed concern this summer that far right groups appear to be increasingly emboldened and willing to publicly promote racist ideologies.
The Scottish Defence League, which formed around 2009, re-emerged recently after years of apparent inactivity, at least publicly.
It was an offshoot of the far right English Defence League, which opposed Islam and caused violence in English cities for years. The SDL also opposed Islam and refugees but claimed not to be racist.
Critics argued that it acted as a front for neo-Nazis, religious bigots and football hooligans intent on causing violence and sectarian divisions.
In 2018 SDL member Peter Morgan was jailed for 12 years for terror offences. His Edinburgh flat was deemed a bomb factory by police who also found a Ku Klux Klan application form and an al-Qaeda terrorism manual.
The protest in Edinburgh was also attended by anti-immigration activists from England who support a group called the “North West Infidels”.
The Ulster Freedom Fighters was responsible for hundreds of deaths and proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 1973. It was closely linked to the UDA which was banned in 1992. The group often claimed responsibility for sectarian murders by using the cover name, the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
Notorious attacks by the group included the shooting dead of five Catholics at a Belfast bookmakers shop in 1992 and the Greysteel massacre the following year, when gunmen entered a rural pub and opened fire, leaving eight people dead.
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Loyalist terrorists had links to neo-Nazis including Blood and Honour, initially a skinhead movement that takes its name from a Nazi slogan and promotes white power ideology, often through secretive music festivals. “Blood & Honour” (Blut und Ehre) was written on the personal knives of Hitler Youth.
In 2025 Blood and Honour became the first extreme right-wing group to have financial sanctions imposed by the UK government because it was suspected of “being involved in terrorist activities through promoting and encouraging terrorism”.
Combat 18 originally served as security for Blood and Honour and ended up controlling one of its factions. Its name is code for Combat-Adolf Hitler ( numbers 1 and 8 in the alphabet).
In April, The Ferret revealed there have been 66 alleged offences in Scotland regarding support for banned loyalist paramilitary groups since the Terrorism Act 2000 came into force.
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 a UVF flag on her house while singing sectarian songs in support of the outlawed terror group.
Professor Matthew Feldman, an expert on far right extremism who has testified at more than 24 trials, mostly terrorism related, said: “The extremist UDA umbrella has been proscribed in Britain for more than 30 years. It has the blood of hundreds on its hands. These are violent, extremist groups.”
He added: “The SDL is not like other 'patriotic' groups that mushroomed under the English Defence League after its emergence in 2009. The group is far more radical and also, in my view, openly white supremacist. This isn’t a far-right group, but extreme right.”
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Maggie Chapman MSP, the Scottish Greens’ Justice spokesperson, said: “The display of Nazi and far-right symbols at a demonstration in Edinburgh is utterly abhorrent.” She added that the symbols of Combat 18, and Blood & Honour were not “harmless provocations” but “symbols associated with racist, fascist and sectarian violence, hate and intimidation”. Their aim, she claimed, was to frighten people.
Chapman continued: “There is no place for fascist intimidation on our streets. People have a right to protest and to express political views. They do not have a right to terrorise their neighbours or threaten communities with symbols of violence and hatred.
"I urge Police Scotland to investigate whether offences have been committed and use every available power to hold those responsible to account. And where existing law is inadequate, governments must have the courage to strengthen it.”
The Scottish Defence League has been approached for a comment.
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