UK politics - live: Michael Gove names Muslim and white supremacist groups as he outlines extremism definition
Labour leader Keir Starmer says Diane Abbott ‘needs an arm around her’ but restoring whip still depends on investigation
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The government has identified groups that could face restrictions following the publication of the new “extremism” definition amid rising concerns about threats to social cohesion and British democracy.
A ban on white supremacist group British National Socialist Movement and Patriotic Alterntive engaging with the government will be considered, as well as anti-War on Terror group CAGE , Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) and Muslim Association with Britain, which he says “give rise to concern”.
The groups will be assessed for whether they met the definition of extremism, Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove said.
He told MPs the country’s values of inclusivity and tolerance were “under challenge from extremist groups which are radicalising our young people and driving greater polarisation within and between communities to further their own ends”.
Earlier, he said the new definition of extremism was not intended to stop people from protesting amid fears it could curtail free speech.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the former Labour MP Diane Abbott needed “an arm around her” but the issue of restoring the whip was completely different and still subject to investigation.
Tories won’t pressure Labour to return Dale Vince cash - report
Labour have been branded “total hypocrites” for demanding the Conservative Party returns the £10m donated by Frank Hester.
An official made the comment to Playbook after pointing out that Dale Vince, one of Labour’s top donors, said “one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist”.
Mr Vince added that “I don’t support what they [Hamas] did”.
“Labour will not come under a lot of pressure from our side to pay that money back. They shouldn’t be total hypocrites.”
Some Tory MPs called for Labour to return money donated to the party by Mr Vince after it emerged he had also donated large sums to the Just Stop Oil climate group.
Labour said Mr Vince’s comments were not as presented by CCHQ, and not comparable to those of made by Mr Hester.
You can watch Mr Vince’s interview with Times Radio here:
Sunak under increasing pressure over Hester donations
Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure to return the £10m donated to the Conservative Party by Frank Hester.
Tory peers Chris Patten and Stuart Rose have joined West Midlands mayor Andy Street in calling for the prime minister to give the cash back.
“It doesn’t smell right, it doesn’t look right, it doesn’t feel right,” Lord Rose told ITV’s Peston programme last night.
Record number of far-right activists convicted of terror offences in 2023
A record number of far-right activists and sympathisers were convicted of terror-related offences in 2023, according to a campaign group.
Hope Not Hate said 23 people were convicted, up from 20 in 2022.
“There is a growing mood of pessimism and declinism amongst the population and this is leading to deteriorating attitudes to democracy and the political system ,” the group said in its report.
Watch: Diane Abbott ignored 46 times in Commons debate on Tory donor comments
Watch: Diane Abbott ignored 46 times in Commons debate on Tory donor comments
Diane Abbott stood up 46 times during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, 13 March, but was ultimately denied the chance to speak after reporting a Tory donor to the police. The MP filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Police’s parliamentary liaison and investigations team after Frank Hester, who donated £10m to the Conservatives in 2023, was alleged to have said she “should be shot”. Mr Hester admitted making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott but said they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
Michael Gove to create list of ‘extremist’ groups blacklisted from funding and meeting ministers
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.
Full report:
Michael Gove’s department to create public list of blacklisted ‘extremist’ groups
New definition of extremism aims to crack down on those who try to ‘negate or destroy’ the rights of others
Tory MP warns of ‘slippery slope towards authoritarianism’ as new extremism definition published
The government’s new extremism definition could end up harming free speech, a Conservative MP has said.
Miriam Cates, who heads up the New Conservatives Group, said the plans could inadvertently affect gender-critical feminists or anti-abortion campaigners.
“In a free and democratic society it is foolish to detach the legal definition of ‘extremism’ from violence and terrorism,” she writes in The Critic.
“If ‘extremist’ opinions become illegal without manifesting as actual harm, then those who hold the pen on the legal definition of extremism acquire extraordinary powers to curtail free speech, freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of religion.
“History teaches us that this is the slippery slope towards authoritarianism.”
What is the government’s new definition of extremism?
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, will later today set out the government’s new definition of extremism.
Ahead of his statement to the Commons, which comes some two weeks after Rishi Sunak claimed that the UK was descending into “mob rule”, what do we already know about the plan?
The government says it is updating the definition of extremism to respond to the increased extremist threat since Hamas’s 7 October terror attacks in Israel.
The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government said the definition will be used to ensure government departments and officials are not inadvertently “providing a platform, funding or legitimacy to groups or individuals who attempt to advance extremist ideologies that negate our fundamental rights and freedoms and overturn the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy.”
Diane Abbott snubbed more than 40 times by speaker as she tries to address race row during PMQs
The Commons speaker has come under fire after he failed to call upon Diane Abbott to speak as Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer discussed ‘racist’ comments made about her by a Tory donor.
Ms Abbott has found herself at the centre of the unfolding racism row in the Conservative party after it was reported a major party donor had made alleged comments about the former Labour MP.
Full report:
Diane Abbott snubbed more than 40 times by speaker as she tries to address race row
The longest-serving black MP slammed the speaker for his refusal to let her speak during prime minister’s questions
Gove declines to say if his party has a racism problem
Michael Gove has declined to say whether his party has a racism problem following comments by a top Conservative donor and one of its former MPs.
“I think there are individuals who’ve certainly said things that are unacceptable and racist and that needs to be called out,” he told Times Radio when asked if his party had a problem.
“But again, I also think that if individuals repent, apologise, show contrition, then the right thing to do is to accept that,” he added.
Mr Gove said Mr Hester had “shown contrition” after it was alleged he had said Diane Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
Last month Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, said London mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, was being controlled by Islamists. He has since defected to Reform UK, the latest reincarnation of Nigel Farage’s UKIP.
Ministers condemned the comments as unacceptable but declined to say whether they were racist or Islamophobic.
If calling for Diane Abbott ‘to be shot’ isn’t racism, then what is?
For the past 24 hours, Chante Joseph has heard people say that a comment about wanting a Black woman shot isn’t racist.
For years, she has been told racism doesn’t exist in the UK. Enough. This is gaslighting on an institutional scale, she says.
"Imagine now you are a Black woman in your kitchen and how this could make you feel. Then imagine how it feels to be told this has ‘nothing’ to do with the colour of your skin or gender," she writes.
Read Chante’s piece in full here:
If calling for Diane Abbott ‘to be shot’ isn’t racism, then what is?
For the past 24 hours, Chante Joseph has heard people say that a comment about wanting a Black woman shot isn’t racist. For years, she has been told racism doesn’t exist in the UK. Enough. This is gaslighting on an institutional scale, she says
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