HMRC employee exposed as member of far-right group

An HMRC employee has been identified as a member of far-right organisation Patriotic Alternative following an undercover BBC investigation, a trade union has said.

Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) reps in Birmingham said an "unapologetically racist" activist was discovered after the documentary aired in January.

HMRC said all its employees were expected to uphold the Civil Service Code, which required them to be objective and impartial, as well its values and commitments.

"Failure to meet those standards will be investigated and appropriate action taken," a spokesperson added.

Patriotic Alternative is considered to be the UK's largest far-right group, with about 500 members and thousands of followers online.

There are the calls for the group to be banned and some members investigated by police after people were secretly filmed making threats of violence against migrants.

Dame Sara Khan, former Counter-Extremism Commissioner, previously called for the government to change the laws to ban organisations like the group.

An undercover BBC reporter spent a year investigating Patriotic Alternative, filming demonstrations and recording some members using racial slurs, alongside talk of race wars.

Patriotic Alternative leader Mark Collett said the group were not extremist, did not promote violence, and were advocating for for the rights of "indigenous Britons".

Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, said the "twisted ideology" of Patriotic Alternative had no place in the civil service or in wider society.

"PCS reps in Birmingham have identified an unapologetically racist Patriotic Alternative activist as a member of HMRC staff. Our Welsh reps in HMRC did the same in 2023, demonstrating our commitment to rooting fascist agitators out of our civil service," she said in a statement.

"As trade unionists and anti-fascists, will continue to actively fight against all forms of racism and fascism."

An HMRC spokesperson added they did not comment on individual staff members.

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