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Being a member of a group that is classified as one that encourages ‘radicalisation' or spouts hate-speech, could lead to the very meeting of such an organisation made illegal, under new laws announced by the re-elected Conservative government. Promised by Theresa May and David Cameron before the election, cracking down on ideologies described by the PM as “poisonous,” is one the new cabinet is doubling down on in the weeks after the votes were cast.
These attempts to target the groups that it's believed seed the thoughts of radicalism among the vulnerable, have been something the Conservatives have wanted to go after for some time, but before when it was part of the coalition, the Liberal Democrats made sure to block its attempts, much like they did with the Snooper's Charter. However now that the Conservatives hold a majority – albeit a slim one – it's possible that it will be able to railroad through its reforms of hate-speech law.
May's previous description of the legislation has many people worried however. Along with potentially infringing on the free speech of individuals, the new laws would give local authorities the power to deem groups illegal, if there was reason to believe that any collective was spouting ‘hatred' in a public space, or even something as vague as “threatening democracy.” The new laws could also see any groups disbanded or made illegal if they were thought to be at risk of causing “harm or public disorder,” according to the BBC.
May was one of the more high profile politicians to retain her seat during the recent election
The wording there is so loose, that it could theoretically apply to almost anyone if push came to shove. Simply being a part of any organisation or providing funding for a group that was considered guilty of such actions, would become illegal under the new plans as well.
David Cameron is a big supporter of the legislative changes and is planning to explain them as a strong response to radicalisation in the UK, which he believes has been passively resistant for too long. Moving forward, he claims that the UK will confront the “poisonous Islamist extremist ideology.”
May is thought likely to tell the National Security Council in the coming week, that the new laws will be designed to “challenge bigotry and ignorange.”
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KitGuru Says: Bigotry and ignorance… this coming from the woman who banned the benign substance Khat, which had a low potential for abuse and only affected minority communities and overseas enterprises.
Image source: Policy Exchange/Flickr
This will have nothing to do with “poisonous Islamist extremist ideology.” It is just to ensure nobody can criticize the government or challenge it ever again.
That’s the way of governments. They really hate being challenged.
kina sounds like the start of NWO if you ask me…….
I can agree to that, since the majority of the US citizens are also asking for a better ideology-related history and abolish the constitutional laws that doesn’t support religion.
Once a new law is in, usually under the guise of protecting people, it can be tweaked to fit other ‘unsuitable’ targets easily.
There’s bound to be a lot of fear about what this could mean. Ultimately what happens in practice can often be very different. If the government starts labeling a tonne of groups as illegal it’ll ruffle too many feathers. Governments are getting away with more and more, but they are also being called out on infringements of free speech more and more. This seems more like an effort to appease a large portion of Brits who are fearful of extremist groups operating in the country and to take a practical stance in affecting recruitment to Islamic extremist groups in the country. It is worrying still regarding implications for free speech in the country as a whole. I’m surprised this article hasn’t mentioned what this could mean for the white supremacy groups of the UK (people have been asking for those guys freedom of speech to be taken away for years).
I bet someone will take this to European Court of Justice or European Court of Human Rights or any UK based court or Tribunal.
Anyone left wing will be classed as radical I assume 😛