Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.
The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists.
The proposals have provoked a furious response from civil rights groups with some warning it risks “criminalising dissent”, and would significantly suppress freedom of expression.
One Whitehall official said: “The concern is that this is a crackdown on freedom of speech. The definition is too broad and will capture legitimate organisations and individuals.”
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Internal departmental documents marked “official – sensitive” says the proposed definition could “frame a new, unified response to extremism”. It lists a number of organisations which it considers would be “captured” by the new definition.
Among them are the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Palestine Action and Mend, which has featured at some Conservative party conference fringe events and in 2021 provided evidence to parliamentary committees.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.
The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists.
Among them are the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Palestine Action and Mend, which has featured at some Conservative party conference fringe events and in 2021 provided evidence to parliamentary committees.
The definition of extremism and its usage in counter-terrorism policies like [counter terrorism strategy] Prevent is already being applied so broadly it seeks to effectively hinder people from organising and mobilising.
The government’s 2011 Prevent strategy defined extremism as the “active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”.
Under the proposed definition in the documents, extremism would be the promotion of any ideology which aims to “overturn or undermine the UK’s democracy, its institutions and values; or threaten the rights of individuals or create a permissive environment for radicalisation, hate crime and terrorism”.
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