Michael Gove names five organisations that could be blacklisted for extremism
Michael Gove has named five organisations he says could be added to a Government blacklist for extremists.
The Communities Secretary told MPs that three Muslim-led groups and two neo-nazi organisations could face action. He told MPs that the Muslim Association of Britain, Cage and Mend, as well as the far-right British National Socialist Movement and Patriotic Alternative, will be examined.
The Tory frontbencher faced a barrage of questions over whether Tory donor Frank Hester, who said Diane Abbott "should be shot" met the criteria for extremism. Critics accused him of whipping up division and clamping down on free speech.
Mr Gove said organisations who meet a new Government definition of extremism will be barred from receiving public funds and interacting with government departments.
He told the Commons: "Organisations such as the Muslim Association of Britain, which is the British affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, and other groups such as Cage and Mend (Muslim Engagement and Development) give rise to concern for their Islamist orientation and views. We will be holding these and other organisations to account to assess if they meet our definition of extremism and will take action as appropriate."
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Mr Gove then named two far-right groups, stating: "I'm sure that we would agree that organisations such as the British National Socialist Movement and Patriotic Alternative who promote neo-Nazi ideology, argue for forced repatriation, a white ethno-state and the targeting of minority groups for intimidation, are precisely the type of groups about which we should be concerned and whose activities we will assess against the new definition."
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Under the new definitions, extremists will be classed as those who destroy the freedom of others, try to replace parliamentary democracy and intentionally create a 'permissive' environment for others to do this. The announcement follows an alarming rise in hate crimes since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Muslim Association of Britain branded the definition “an egregious assault on civil liberties.” And in a joint statement with eight other organisations, CAGE International said: "His (Mr Gove's) announcement is a continuation of the decades-long strategy aimed at inciting and exploiting fears against Muslims to build an authoritarian and repressive infrastructure that suppresses any dissent that is not licensed by Whitehall."
SNP home affairs spokeswoman Alison Thewliss lashed out at the Tories, claiming a rise in extremism was "stoked" by the party. She said: "As we have also heard this week, racism and misogyny by funders of the party of government, can I ask (Mr Gove) if he considers that racism and misogyny meet his definition of extremism, and if he believes that the statement by Frank Hester of Diane Abbott - 'you want to hate all black women because she's there, I think she should be shot' - would meet his definition of extremism?"
Mr Gove replied: "(Frank Hester's) comments were clearly racist and regrettable, and speaking as someone who was himself targeted by an extremist who was attempting to kill me and then went on to murder a colleague and friend in this House, I take that sort of language incredibly seriously."
Qari Asim, chairman of the Mosques and Imams Advisory Board, warned a new definition of extremism could be "applied subjectively" and "create huge division in our society". Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, said: "This unnecessary and unacceptable new definition is little more than the government’s latest attempt to silence criticism and impede our democratic freedoms- like freedom of speech and the right to assembly.”
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