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Extremist Acts Have Been Normalized in Britain

(Telegraph-UK) Robin Simcox - Robin Simcox, the British Home Office's independent Commissioner for Countering Extremism, wrote on March 7: Not since 9/11 have extremist networks been as emboldened. Antisemitism skyrocketing. Inflammatory and borderline criminal rhetoric widely shared on social media. A sense that the terrorism threat is rising. Protests becoming ever more vociferous, with "from the river to the sea" beamed onto the side of Big Ben during a vote on Gaza. MPs more fearful for their safety than ever. Evidence that the state works with or funds extremists has appeared in independent reviews or government strategies dating back over a decade. This needs fixing. Government has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks. The Iranian government does not have an inalienable right to run schools and mosques in our capital city. It is not an unalterable democratic principle that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to run a multitude of charities. We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels. And we will not have become an authoritarian state if London is no longer permitted to be turned into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend. Government should move faster, be bolder, and be willing to accept higher legal risk if it means implementing policies that keep us safer. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to disrupting the activities of those groups who propagate extremist narratives but who lurk just below the terrorism threshold. These groups have gone unchallenged for too long.
2024-03-08 00:00:00
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