Is anti-extremism a threat to liberty?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Saturday 19 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

‘Misogyny to be treated as extremism by UK government’, declared a recent BBC News headline. There was a time when such headlines during the parliamentary recess ‘silly season’ would be mocked. But these days, news that the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, plans to crack down on ‘extreme misogyny’ in a manner akin to countering terrorism is to be taken seriously. It fits with a newly established political script on tackling extremism on many different fronts. Whether Islamophobia or Islamism, ‘far-right’ rioters or Antifa, incels or eco-warriors, extremism ‘both online and on our streets’ is charged with fraying ‘the very fabric of our communities and our democracy’.

When historians categorised the twentieth century as ‘The Age of Extremes’, this reflected historically important and clearly identifiable ideologies of fascism and communism. But when it comes to twenty-first century ‘extremism’, there seems less agreement as to what it is, and who are the extremists. A post-riots BBC report says that right-wing extremism is a ‘spectrum’ ranging from ‘genocidal neo-Nazis…to people who stand in democratic elections, engage in public campaigns and put forward policy platforms’. Lord Walney, an independent adviser on political violence and disruption, worries that we do not understand the extreme left who ‘seek to undermine faith in our parliamentary democracy and the rule of law’.

Labelling opponents as extremists is now ubiquitous. Many say populists are extremists. Others, such as pollster and campaigner Matthew Goodwin, point to ‘radicalisation of the elite class’ who impose their values on society. Liberals say the main threat is from the ‘far right’. Those of a conservative disposition are more likely to point the finger at eco-warriors or pro-Palestinian activists.

Whatever the definitional disarray, many believe that extremism – and anti-extremism – are important factors when it comes to the future of liberty. A new review commissioned by the Home Office aims to identify how to ‘crack down’ on extremists who push ‘harmful and hateful beliefs’ creating fears over the future of wider free speech. There are calls to add growing numbers of organisations such as Just Stop Oil or the defunct English Defence Leage (EDL) to proscribed lists.  Calls to clamp down on and criminalise  ‘extremist’ speech or protest, whether labelled Islamophobic, anti-Semitic or misogynistic, are widespread across political divides.

At a time when groups such as Jews or Muslims feel under threat, and when MPs and democratic representatives and their families and homes are targeted, should we be open to new constraints on extremist behaviour?  Or is the bigger worry that ‘extremism’ is being weaponised and risks undermining our freedoms and civil liberties?  Where do the boundaries lie between resisting intolerance and tolerating all views and ideas? How best do we make the case for liberty when society understands so many trends in current affairs through the lens of extremism? And if almost everything and anyone can be labelled extremist, is it a useful concept?

SPEAKERS
Professor Ian Acheson
senior advisor, Counter Extremism Project; visiting professor, school of law, policing and forensics, University of Staffordshire; author, Screwed: Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it

Silkie Carlo
director, Big Brother Watch; author, Information Security for Journalists

Luke Gittos
criminal lawyer; author, Human Rights – Illusory Freedom; director, Freedom Law Clinic

Munira Mirza
chief executive, Civic Future

Eli Vieira
journalist; editor, Gazeta do Povo; writer, Twitter Files - Brazil

CHAIR
Alastair Donald
co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question