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A prominent neo-Nazi and former National Front organiser has publicly denounced the far right, while revealing he is gay and of Jewish heritage.

Kevin Wilshaw, 58, spent his entire adult life promoting white supremacism and was a high-profile figure in the National Front in the 1980s.

He was still speaking at extremist events as recently as this year and was arrested for spewing race hate online in March.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, he admitted to acts of violence and racism including smashing a chair over someone's head in Leeds and vandalising a mosque in Aylsbury.

But he said had decided to publicly renounce the far-right movement, which he claimed to have joined because he "didn’t have many friends at school" and "wanted to be a member of a group of people that had an aim".

He added: “Even though you end up being a group of people that through their own extreme views are cut off from society, you do have a sense of comradeship in that you’re a member of a group that’s being attacked by other people.”

Mr Wilshaw joined the British National Party after being part of the National Front and dabbled with violent fringe groups such as the Racial Volunteer Force.

He said he realised racism was "rubbish" and quit the far right after receiving abuse from within the movement for his sexuality.

“It’s a terribly selfish thing to say but it’s true, I saw people being abused, shouted at, spat at in the street – it’s not until it’s directed at you that you suddenly realise that what you’re doing is wrong," he told Paraic O'Brien.

He admitted it was a "contradiction" for a gay person to be part of the "homophobic" National Front.

He also revealed he had written about his hatred of "the Jews" on his National Front application form, despite his mother being Jewish.

Mr Wilshaw said he now recognised "that term ‘the Jews’ [as] the global faceless mass of people" is "the generalisation that leads to six million people being deliberately murdered".

He said he felt "appallingly guilty" over his past and now wanted to fight racism, although he said he feared reprisals from the far right for his "betrayal".

He added: "I want to do some damage as well, not to ordinary people but the people who are propagating this kind of rubbish – want to hurt them, show what it’s like for those who are living a lie and be on the receiving end of this type of propaganda."

The interview aired during National Hate Crime Awareness Week and hours after new figures revealed a stark rise in Islamophobic hate crimes reported in London in the last year.

A total of 17,042 race or religious-related crimes were reported to police 12 months up to April 2017, compared to 16,762 in the previous financial year.

The sharpest increase was recorded among anti-Islam crime, with offences up by a quarter. Homophobic crimes rose six per cent and anti-Semitic offences increased 4.5 per cent.