UK rightwing terror leader in court over MP murder plot

The alleged leader of a British rightwing terror group appeared in court in London today charged with giving the go-ahead for a machete attack against a lawmaker.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard charges that Christopher Lythgoe, 31, granted permission for a fellow member of banned group National Action to carry out the attack on July 1.
An unnamed 22-year-old man also appeared, charged with intending to commit acts of terrorism.
The man bought a "Gladius Machete" -- modelled on the swords used by ancient Romans -- with the intention of killing Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire in northwest England.
Lythgoe, from nearby Cheshire, is charged with encouraging the 22-year-old to commit murder.

The two men, along with four others, appeared in the dock charged with being members of National Action, an organisation which was outlawed last December, six months after the assassination of lawmaker Jo Cox by a far-right sympathiser.
Cox, an MP from the main opposition Labour party, was shot and stabbed to death in her constituency by Thomas Mair in June 2016.
The suspects were among 11 men arrested by counter- terrorism police in raids last month.