Accusations of ‘two-tier’ policing are an extreme right-wing narrative, according to an internal Home Office report that recommended sweeping changes to the way extremism is dealt with.
The report stated: “Right-wing extremist narratives (particularly around immigration and policing) are in some cases ‘leaking’ into mainstream debates. Claims of ‘two-tier’ policing, where two groups are allegedly treated differently after similar behaviour, is a recent example.”
The document also said that right-wing extremists “frequently exploit” the grooming gangs scandal – described as “alleged group-based sexual abuse” – to promote anti-Muslim sentiment.
Among its recommendations was one that will be of particular concern to FSU supporters: that the police recording of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) should actually be increased – by reversing the code of conduct introduced by the previous government whereby NCHIs should be logged only if there is a serious risk of harm.
Other recommendations included forcing social media companies to remove any content that encourages rioting or violent disorder and adding more aggravating factors to hate crime laws to ensure that those convicted receive longer sentences.
The report was ordered by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in August following the public unrest that broke out the previous month after three young girls were murdered in Southport by 18 year-old Axel Rudakubana. The conclusions and recommendations were drawn up once officials had conducted a “rapid analytical sprint” of counter-extremism policy and decided that tackling extremism should no longer be based on specific ideologies such as Islamism or the far right but “on behaviours and activity of concern”. This is because of the “dizzying range of beliefs and ideologies we see”, the report said.
Its examples of attitudes and behaviour that should now be termed “extremist” were certainly wide-ranging. They included spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, an interest in “gore or extreme misogyny”, involvement in “online subcultures called the manosphere”, anarchism, an obsession with school massacres and environmental protest.
However, we only know all this because a few days ago the report was leaked to the conservative think tank Policy Exchange, which said that the proposed changes would play down the threat of Islamic extremism. The document itself cited the head of MI5 as stating that its counter-terrorist work remained three-quarters focused on Islamist extremism and a quarter on right-wing terrorism.
Responding to the recommendations, Policy Exchange’s Dr Paul Stott and Andrew Gilligan wrote: “This new approach risks swamping already stretched counter-extremism interveners and counter-terror police with tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of new cases, making it more likely that dangerous people will be missed.
“Some of the definitions of extremism also threaten free speech, defining aspects of normal and legitimate political debate as extremist.”
Policy Exchange went on to say that describing allegations of two-tier policing as an extremist narrative was “highly contentious” and would lead to large numbers of the public being branded extremist: “Once accepted within government, how will the suggestion that ‘two-tier policing’ is a ‘right-wing extremist narrative’ be weaponised at the local and national level by civil servants, senior police and counter-extremism practitioners? There is an obvious risk here of tarring significant swathes of the public as far-right.”
Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, agreed that was draconian to describe those making claims of two-tier policing as extremists. He said: “Commenting on police response to incidents is not far-right. We live in a democracy and people are entitled to debate the way we are policed. That’s not far-right – that’s part of legitimate debate in a democracy. You can agree or disagree with these views, but freedom of speech means they have the right to express them.”
The good news is that after the details of the report were leaked, Dan Jarvis, the Security Minister, said that he and the Home Secretary had rejected its recommendations despite having commissioned it. (“Ideology, particularly Islamist extremism followed by far-right extremism, continue to be at the heart of our approach to countering extremism and counter-terror,” Mr Jarvis explained.)
The bad news is that its contents are a sharp reminder of the downplaying of free speech – and continuing fondness for NCHIs – at the heart of Whitehall.
For more on the story, click here.
