The government is set to create a list of “extremist” groups that will be blacklisted from funding and prevented from meeting ministers and civil servants under new plans drawn up by Michael Gove.
Mr Gove, the levelling up secretary, said he will use a new definition of extremism to try and crack down on the “pervasiveness of extremist ideologies” that have “become increasingly clear” in the aftermath of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.
The definition says extremism is the advancement of a violent, hateful or intolerant ideology that aims to “negate or destroy” the rights of others, or which aims to “undermine, overturn or replace” the UK’s democracy and democratic rights.
Extremism is also defined as the promotion of an ideology that aims to “intentionally create a permissive environment” for others to achieve the same aims.
The definition does not create new powers, is not statutory and has no effect on existing criminal law.
Michael Gove has been criticised for his plans which some say are a threat to freedom of expression
The new definition has already faced criticism from three former home secretaries and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, all of whom cautioned the government over the risk of politicising anti-extremism.
The archbishop said that the plans risk “disproportionately targeting Muslim communities”. He added: “The new definition being proposed not only inadvertently threatens freedom of speech, but also the right to worship and peaceful protest – things that have been hard won and form the fabric of a civilised society.”
Government officials insist that the definition sets a “high bar” that will only capture the most concerning activities. Those who provide a “permissive environment” for extremist groups will be classed as those who repeatedly offer a platform for individuals despite knowing that they have been blacklisted, for example.
As well as not receiving funding or meeting with ministers, extremist groups or individuals will be barred from public appointments and from receiving honours.
The government published the extremism definition on Thursday and civil servants will now spend the next few weeks deciding which groups fit the criteria. Inclusion on the list will then be signed off by Mr Gove. The Department for Levelling Up has committed to publishing the list when it is complete and has not ruled out putting individuals on the list in the future.
Those who are designated as extremists will be contacted by officials and given the opportunity to provide mitigating evidence, detailing why they shouldn’t be included. But once they are included on the list of extremist organisations their only recourse will be in the courts.
It is likely that one or more of the groups listed will try to bring a judicial review against the policy.
Mr Gove announced the new definition by praising the diversity of Britain, but he warned that British values and democracy are “under challenge from extremists”.
He added: “The pervasiveness of extremist ideologies has become increasingly clear in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and poses a real risk to the security of our citizens and our democracy.
Read: A defining moment as ministers update what counts as extremism
“This is the work of the extreme right-wing and Islamist extremists who are seeking to separate Muslims from the rest of society and create division within Muslim communities. They seek to radicalise individuals, deny people their full rights, suppress freedom of expression, incite hatred, and undermine our democratic institutions.”
Mr Gove said that the measures would “ensure that government does not inadvertently provide a platform to those setting out to subvert democracy and deny other people’s fundamental rights”.
Speaking to media on Thursday morning, Mr Gove suggested that a Tory donor’s alleged call for a Black MP to be “shot” would not meet the new definition of extremist.
Businessman Frank Hester is alleged to have said that Diane Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, made him “want to hate all black women”, in comments described as “racist” by the prime minister.
Mr Gove told Times Radio: “I wouldn’t want to conflate those motivated by extremist ideology with an individual comment, however horrific, which has quite rightly been called out and which has quite rightly led to an apology.”
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader reacted to the announcement by saying that “tinkering with a new definition” was not enough to tackle extremism. She added: “The government’s counterextremism strategy is now nine years out of date, and they’ve repeatedly failed to define Islamophobia. Any suggestion that the government has been engaging with groups that they’ve now decided are extremists raises serious questions over why it has taken so long to act.”
The announcement comes as polling from More in Common finds that 25 per cent of the public thinks the UK is unsafe for Muslims and 39 per cent think it is unsafe for Jews.
This is compared to 15 per cent of those surveyed saying Britain was unsafe for them personally. The polling company surveyed 2,027 adults.
