In October the results of the Extremism Commission’s review of the Extremism Strategy were published. The “Challenging Hateful Extremism” report is critical of the Government’s approach to countering extremism thus far principally due to the expansive way in which “Extremism” is framed and makes the case for a new “Hateful Extremism” definition.
I covered my response to this report in my most recent vlog. Adding another definition into this space will add further complexity to an already over-crowded pitch of policy provision which started with the 2015 roll-out of the Extremism Strategy. While the Commission is correct to point out the flaws in the way “Extremism” is currently framed, their solution has been to come up with another definition that is just as ill-conceived in my view.
A significant weakness of the report is no doubt due to the tightly controlled mandate of the Extremism Commission. The report states; “While the Commission has no remit on counter terrorism policies, including Prevent, or integration issues, we are mindful of the overlap between terrorism, extremism and cohesion”. And so, this report has taken the same approach as so many others that have come before, a blinkered view on a policy in isolation and divorced from the wider policy landscape. This is how gaps and overlaps emerge. And policymakers are not learning from the mistakes of the past.
