BYM condemns anti-extremism proposals

'The government should stop conflating protests with extremism.'

Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has written to the prime minister to warn of ‘the chilling effect’ on the right to protest, due to new legislation and policing powers. Signed by forty-five other groups, the letter said that possible new anti-extremism measures, including barring MPs engaging with certain groups, represent an escalation in threats to freedom of expression and should be abandoned.

The signatories – including Greenpeace, Liberty and Amnesty International – also raised concerns over the government’s ‘divisive language’. Use of terms such as ‘extremism’ and ‘hate mobs’ has sought to demonise overwhelmingly peaceful protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, the letter said.

The government should stop conflating protests with extremism, it added. The signatories also challenged the prime minister over his intention to redouble support for the discredited Prevent scheme, where ‘Islamophobic stereotypes play a major role in referrals’, said BYM.

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