Man charged with being member of banned far right organisation National Action

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A man from Wiltshire has been charged with belonging to National Action, a banned far-right organisation, according to police.

The 31-year-old was interviewed until caution over three days this week at a police station in the county, authorities said.

West Midlands Police said Ben Raymond was charged on Thursday with being a member of National Action, which is under a government proscribed list of terrorist organisations.

He was charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 11 of the Terrorism Act between 17 December 2016 and 27 September 2017, police said.

He has also been charged with three counts of possessing material likely useful for terrorism, West Midlands Police said.

The Home Office calls National Action a “racist neo-Nazi group” in a government list of proscribed terrorist groups.

It was set up in 2013, the department says.

Mr Raymond, who is from Swindon, a town in Wiltshire, will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on 28 April, according to West Midlands police.