Thread by @PolicyCommunity

While @RishiSunak’s proposals to refer people who “vilify Britain” to PREVENT are horrifying, they are not surprising.

Let’s explore some of the troubling aspects of the proposals.

A 🧵…

(Prepare for a long one)

1/

2/ @RishiSunak wants to expand the definition of extremism to include those with an “extreme hatred of Britain”. However…

3/ the definition of extremism is already exceptionally broad and has been repeatedly criticised for being too wide, confusing, and subjective.

https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/869584869474664449

4/ Also, what are the sentiments that could be included under “hatred” or “vilification” of Britain?

While @RishiSunak claims criticism of the government or its policies would not be included…

5/ … it is hard to believe that this policy would not be used to stifle dissenting democratic speech and opinions that are inconvenient.

We have already seen the squeezing and demonising groups like @XRebellionUK

theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/j…

6/ In the government-led culture war, this approach follows a pattern of demonising dissenting voices and government attempts to shut down opposition.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

7/ And let’s not forget that the divide and conquer strategy based on accusations of “hatred of Britain” has been a political tool for oppression throughout history.

https://twitter.com/evansmithhist/status/1554786393687474180?s=11&t=sBGvexUK4Uvtgu4SbRxCrA

8/ So, it will be interesting to see where @RishiSunak situates arguments such as the need to decolonise education, or nationalist movements in Scotland, or those who criticise the monarchy within this definition.

9/ At the same time, this focus will shift attention away from far-right politically motivated violence, because such violence is based on the hatred of minorities and specific groups – not Britain as a whole.

https://twitter.com/MariaWNorris/status/1554762308617920514

10/ Which brings us to @RishiSunak’s proposal to “refocus” Prevent onto Islamic extremism… which smacks of the leaks coming out of the Shawcross Review.

https://twitter.com/MariaWNorris/status/1526298622593323011

11/ Downplaying the threat of the far-right may appeal to @RishiSunak’s support base, but it is fundamentally misguided.

12/ While the murder of Jo Cox in 2016 and the attack in Finsbury Park in 2017 might be the most famous examples of far-right politically motivated violence, here are some lesser-known examples in the UK between 2015-2020.

mend.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

13/ A recent report by @MuslimCensus revealed that 35% of mosques in the UK experience religiously motivated attacks at least once a year.
muslimcensus.co.uk/attacks-upon-m…

14/ Meanwhile, hot on the tails of @RishiSunak's proposals, we are being warned of the risk of children being targeted by a “far-right ecosystem”.

theguardian.com/politics/2022/…

15/ And then there are ongoing debates about incels and where do they fit into @RishiSunak’s view of extremism?

https://twitter.com/MariaWNorris/status/1554796068398940161

16/ So, the suggestion to move focus away from the far-right makes no sense if the genuine aim is to tackle politically motivated violence.

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1554740412501352448

*BREAK FOR A CAVEAT*

We do have to note that a superficial focus on right-wing violence has been used to argue that PREVENT is not structurally Islamophobic – this is a smoke screen. PREVENT is flawed in its theory, development, and application.

https://twitter.com/aurelmondon/status/1554756069838258176

17/ So it appears that @RishiSunak has failed to properly engage with the true ways in which PREVENT is failing

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

18/ Meanwhile, this proposal comes amid @RishiSunak and @LizTruss’s support for trashing our human rights framework #RightsRemovalBill and the inhumane #RwandaDeportation scheme.

https://twitter.com/libertyhq/status/1554753951366406144

19/ These proposals follow an established government trajectory further securitising Muslims and political opposition to cement its own power amongst its supporter base and use a culture war to drag political debate further to the right.

20/ And with Liz Truss not offering a better option, Muslims will continue to be unrepresented by whoever becomes the next PM.

END

https://twitter.com/PolicyCommunity/status/1551974356296900620