Warning that police grasp of far-right threat is decade out of date

Author says Ben Hannam's conviction suggests more extremists are serving and says scrutiny isn't fit for purpose'

The police's understanding of the far-right extremist threat in the UK is a decade behind the curve because it is based primarily on an understanding of yesterday's organisations, according to a leading expert.

The warning from Matthew Collins, the author of a book on National Action, came after a 22-year-old became the first serving British police officer to be convicted of a terrorism offence, after he was found guilty of belonging to the banned neo-Nazi group on Thursday.