Stop spread of hatred, Javid appeals as he warns of worst-ever extremism threat
BRITAIN is facing its worst-ever threat from extremism, Sajid Javid warned today as he called for a new nationwide effort to counter the spread of hardline and intolerant views.
In a speech in London, the Home Secretary said that “far-Right and far-Left extremism, anti-Semitism and antiMuslim hate” were all on the rise as public debate became increasingly angry. He said the result was that extremism had “gone from being a minority issue to one that affects us all… and the way we all live our lives is under unprecedented attack.”
He cited examples including the recent attack on two women kissing on a London bus and sledgehammer attacks on mosques.
But despite the problems and the need to resist “sliding into the barely masked racism of nationalism”, Mr Javid insisted that Britons remained “naturally liberal people” as he announced a range of me a s u re s d e s i g n e d to tackle the extremist threat.
These include plans to draw up a new counter-extremism strategy, a continued emphasis on promoting integration, and celebration of national identity and the “qualities that define us as a nation”. Mr Javid said he also intended to take action against the controversial campaign group Cage, which once described the British IS killer Mohammed Emwazi as a “beautiful young man”, saying that he would change the rules on sponsoring migrant workers to stop it taking on staff from overseas.
Mr Javid’s announcements today, to an audience of charities, academics and counter-extremism campaigners, came as he also issued a veiled rebuke to Donald Trump for telling four Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to the countries they “originally came from”. He said that as a member of an immigrant family himself he knew “what it’s like to be told to go back where I came from”.
Mr Javid added: “We must confront the myths about immigration that extremists use to drive divisions.
“The threat is now worse than ever. People are getting angrier about more things — and extremists are quick to exploit that. The fault lines dividing our society have splintered and spread.
“Reports of far-right and far-Left extremism, anti-Semitism and antiMuslim hate are on the rise. Women are being robbed of opportunities by religious extremists.
“The internet has further emboldened those inclined to hate. Angrywords whip up a climate of fear and incite hate, violence, public disorder, oppression and segregation.”
As well as a new counter-extremism strategy, Mr Javid said he had already taken “tough action” by barring foreign extremists from entering Britain.
Those banned included “a far-Right white supremacist, a US black nationalist and extremist hate preachers from a number of faiths.” British extremists with dual nationalities had similarly been stripped of their citizenship to keep them out of the country.
Mr Javid added that he would target Cage by changing rules so organisations that acted in a way “inconsistent with British values or detrimental to the public good” could not recruit workers from abroad to spread controversial views.