The British Army secretly relaxed its security vetting for at least two years letting in a far-right extremist who boasted of his support for Russia and Vladimir Putin, The i Paper can reveal. The security downgrade, which lasted from at least September 2022 to September 2024, means that more than 13,000 recruits joined the Army without having to pass full background checks.
It remains unclear how many recruits joined without the full clearance during the same period.
New soldiers were allowed to pass from basic training into specialist training – such as for infantry, logistics or signals – without being cleared by background checks into their identity, immigration status, criminal records and a review by the security services. The move to relax security checks allowed the Army to speed up recruitment during a post-Covid backlog.
However, the revelation raises serious concerns over how the Army can be targeted by extremists and hostile state actors, amid mounting concerns over espionage and infiltration attempts.
Army engineer Daniel Khalife was jailed for spying for Iran last year. A British military instructor was imprisoned by Ukraine in May for passing secrets to Russia, and suspicious activity has been reported around British military bases in the UK and abroad.
The vetting downgrade was uncovered after an Army chef, Mark Broadhurst, was arrested by counter-terror police in September 2024.
The 28-year-old, who had boasted, “I support Russia because of Putin’s truth bombs on the West”, was convicted of firearms and explosives offences.
He had been trying to build a homemade gun which he threatened to use against Muslims.
Despite networking online with a neo-Nazi cell and making a gun and explosives at his home, Broadhurst did not prompt any concerns within the Army, until he was arrested.
His vetting had not been completed, despite Broadhurst having applied to join the Army in 2022 and entering basic training in May 2023. He went on to work as a chef at Catterick Garrison – Britain’s largest military base.
Far-right terror offender Mark Broadhurst, 28, served in the army for over a year without passing vetting (Photo: CTP North East)The Ministry of Defence has not confirmed how long security checks were not being carried out on new recruits, but Broadhurst’s case suggests it spanned at least a two-year period during which 13,083 untrained recruits joined the British Army.
It is not known who implemented the policy, but it was in place under the Conservative Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. He was approached for comment.
The policy meant that soldiers could pass from Phase 1 basic training into Phase 2, where they enter specialisms, without vetting being completed. The policy not to carry out security checks has since been rescinded and vetting must now be complete by the end of basic training in order for recruits to progress.
Tobias Ellwood, a former Conservative minister who chaired Parliament’s Defence Committee between 2020 and 2023, said he was not aware of the policy – and that he would have launched an investigation if alerted to it.
Mr Ellwood told The i Paper that while initial training was “very basic” and involves exercises, marching and fitness regimes, in Phase 2 training, soldiers receive greater access to military knowledge, tactics, weapons, equipment and facilities.
“It’s when you are assigned to your next job, whether it’s to become a chef for an officers’ mess, for example, where there are senior officers kicking around, or if you are assigned to work in the staff of a division headquarters,” he added.
“It’s also dangerous, because in Phase 2 you bond very deeply with other recruits, which might be part of the purpose of joining – to rally and recruit from within.
“This drop in standards is concerning.”
Dr Dan Lomas, a security expert specialising in vetting at the University of Nottingham, said that even basic levels of information on the movement of troops and exercise locations could be useful to spies.
“When we think about spying and espionage, we often think of people stealing classified information from secure facilities,” he said. “But the nature of things these days mean that low-level information can be just as important to a hostile foreign state.”
Broadhurst served at Catterick Garrison, which is Britain’s largest military base and a hub for army training (Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)Dr Lomas said that the purpose of vetting was to guard against “insider threats” and search for indications that recruits could pose a risk, or be vulnerable to external pressure.
“Because you’re getting a group of people who see themselves as patriotic joining the military, the extreme right-wing is one of the potential issues,” he added. “You don’t want these guys to be weapons-trained.”
Dr Lomas said that the UK vetting system is still “not robust enough”, even with the vetting of recruits, because it relies significantly on voluntary disclosures and pre-existing official records.
“As long as you’ve not come to the attention of the police or the security services, you can easily pass,” he warned.
The policy operated during a period of delays in UK Security Vetting (UKSV), which provides vetting services for the MoD, government departments, public bodies and sectors like aviation.
A National Audit Office report said that because of post-Covid backlogs, a “delivery stabilisation plan” was launched in January 2022 that saw Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearances, which are required for new British Army recruits, delayed by efforts to prioritise higher-level “developed vetting” applications.
The watchdog said that vetting aims to “act as a deterrent and in preventing malign individuals from getting access to sensitive government information and assets”, and is of “vital importance”.
The UK, alongside its Nato allies, is scrambling to shore up its military power in the face of the growing threat posed by Russia.
The British Armed Forces have been in decline since the 1990s and subjected to repeated funding cuts, with more than 125,000 service personnel leaving in the last three decades. In 2024, the forces fell below the target size for full-time trained strength for the first time since it was set.
In contrast, Russian forces have been increasing since the Cold War and vastly exceed British personnel numbers. Russia’s army is estimated to have about one million active personnel, despite suffering heavy losses in its conflict with Ukraine.
CTC vetting involves checks on identity, immigration status, criminal records and previous employment, as well as the completion of a security questionnaire. Names are examined against Security Service records.
This level requires the least complex checks of all official vetting and is required for people who work near public figures, access information of potential interest to terrorists, or who have unescorted access to military, civil, industrial or commercial establishments deemed to be at risk of attack.
At the other end of the scale, developed vetting is the most complex type. It allows individuals access to more sensitive government assets and top secret information, requiring extensive background checks, as well as interviews with the applicant and people connected to them.
As part of the Army application process, new soldiers are also interviewed by recruiters and they attend a two-day assessment in person, including physical and mental tests, and team exercises.
A spokesperson for the Army said vetting processes have since been strengthened, adding: “There is absolutely no place in the British Army for racist or extremist ideology, which is wholly incompatible with our values.
“The Armed Forces have robust measures in place to identify, investigate and tackle extremist behaviour, and we continually review those measures to ensure they remain effective as the threat evolves.”
The extremist in the Army – who spoke of support for Putin
Counter-terror police began investigating Broadhurst because of his involvement in an online chat group involving three neo-Nazis, who were later jailed for plotting terror attacks on migrants and mosques.
In November 2022 – months after applying to join the British Army – Broadhurst asked the group if there had been any cases of “Nazis or any right-wingers starting a revolution in the Army”.
The following month, Broadhurst told the group he was trying to build a homemade gun that he intended to make available to like-minded extremists and doomsday “preppers”.
During a discussion about “killing P**is”, Broadhurst wrote “I’m in”. He said his homemade gun would mean that “Christchurch ain’t seen nothing”, referring to the murder of 51 Muslims by a white supremacist in 2019.
In February 2023, as he was approaching the start of basic training, Broadhurst attended a protest by the white nationalist group Patriotic Alternative in Skegness. He was photographed holding a sign reading: “Stop the invasion. We will not be replaced.”
Later that month, he wrote in the extremist chat group about his views of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Broadhurst, now 28, said he supported Ukraine “solely because of nationalism and Azov battalion”, referring to a military unit previously associated with neo-Nazism, adding: “But I also support Russia because Putins truth bombs on the west [sic].”
Broadhurst posing wearing a gas mask and combat gear, while carrying an air rifle, in a photo shared in a WhatsApp chat with his army training company in August 2023Broadhurst provided his fellow extremists with updates on his progress in the Army. He said he wanted to be an infantry soldier but had to become a chef, because of a fitness test.
His views appeared unchanged after going into training, with Broadhurst communicating with Patriotic Alternative regularly until July 2024, complaining that the Army was “full of subversive woke ideology” and saying he was thinking of “terrorising” migrants in Calais.
When police searched his home in Chesterfield after his arrest in September 2024, they found a homemade gun and explosive material, alongside two crossbows, an axe, multiple knives and far-right memorabilia.
Broadhurst admitted firearms and explosives offences, but denied intending to use his weapon or having a terrorist motivation. After a trial of fact at Sheffield Crown Court, a judge ruled that his crimes had a “terrorist connection”. He will be sentenced next month.
Broadhurst was allowed to continue serving in the Army while on bail during the case, and he received three character references from his superiors.
One sergeant, who had left the Army at the point he wrote the statement, described Broadhurst as “a good person with a solid character and a strong work ethic”, after supervising him for a year.
Another sergeant, who remains in service, said Broadhurst was a “generally well-liked” and “fundamentally decent individual”, adding: “Based on my observations he possesses the capacity to learn from mistakes, respond properly to direction and develop into a capable junior non-commissioned officer in the future.”
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