security

Misogyny identified as breeding ground for extremism in UK, says leaked report


Hindu nationalism, misogyny and the “manosphere” have been identified as breeding grounds for extremism in a leaked report commissioned by Yvette Cooper after last summer’s riots.

The home secretary’s “rapid analytical sprint” also dismissed claims of “two-tier policing” as a “rightwing extremist narrative”. It argued that the authorities should adopt a “behaviour-based and ideologically agnostic approach” to clamping down on extremism rather than focus resources primarily on “ideologies of concern”.

The report, which was leaked to the right-leaning thinktank Policy Exchange, comes amid deepening scrutiny of the government’s approach to extremism. On Sunday, it emerged that counter-terrorism officers did not believe the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was “in danger of being radicalised”.

Yvette Cooper commissioned the report. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Cooper commissioned the rapid review in August. For the first time, it identifies Hindu nationalist extremism, and Hindutva, as ideologies of concern after unrest in Leicester in 2022.

“Hindu nationalist extremism is an extremist ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy and seeks to transform India into an ethno-religious Hindu state.

“Hindutva is a political movement distinct from Hinduism which advocates for the hegemony of Indian Hindus and the establishment of a monolithic Hindu Rastra or state in India,” the report said.

“Tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities in the UK are still evident and the events in Leicester show how disinformation can play a role in offline action,” it said.

Under the heading “extreme misogyny”, the report said “an online subculture called the ‘manosphere’ contains a significant amount of content directly focused on misogyny, and sometimes absorbs extremist rightwing tropes.

Readers Also Like:  Who are the five American prisoners freed in the Iran-US prisoner swap? - Al Jazeera English

“The ‘manosphere’ encompasses a wide array of communities that include men’s rights activists; pickup artists; men going their own way; and involuntary celibates or ‘incels’.

“There is an overlap between some manosphere narratives, in particular incel beliefs, and extreme rightwing [ERW] ideology including racist narratives. Globalisation and multiculturalism, which are at the centre of many ERW narratives, are often blamed as factors in incels’ celibacy.”

The report also says that the activity of grooming gangs is frequently exploited by the far right, and that rightwing extremist ideologies and beliefs are “leaking” into the mainstream.

“Rightwing extremist narratives (particularly around immigration and policing) are in some cases ‘leaking’ into mainstream debates. Claims of ‘two-tier’ policing – where two groups are allegedly treated differently after similar behaviour – is a recent example,” the report said.

The government’s approach to extremism should no longer be based on “specific ideologies of concern, but on behaviours and activity”, the report said.

“Not basing his majesty’s government’s approach on a definition or specific ideologies of concern but on behaviours and activity of concern helps to future-proof the approach. It will also reduce both the training burden for practitioners and continual identification burden on government,” it said.

skip past newsletter promotion

In a recommendation that will concern activists, the report calls for the creation of a “dedicated national investigations capability” to “coordinate and take on protest and low-level extremism operations and investigations” and a digital “national centre of excellence for the monitoring and disruption of protest”.

It recommends “reversing” a code of practice, brought in by the previous government, to limit the recording of “non-crime hate incidents” against individuals. Non-crime hate incidents have been criticised as a waste of police time and a threat to free speech.

The report follows claims made last week by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, in the wake of the Southport killings, where he equated extreme violence with extremism and likened terrorism to any act that terrorises.

Starmer’s comments were criticised by the former police counter-terror commander Neil Basu and by the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, for bringing too much into scope.

Paul Stott and Andrew Gilligan, the authors of the report, said: “Many of these supposed other extremisms simply do not meet the test of harming national security or safety. Government should certainly be alarmed by, and should tackle, violence against women and other social harms – but they do not constitute extremism as defined up till now.

“This new approach risks swamping already-stretched counter-extremism interveners and counter-terror police with tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of new cases, making it more likely that dangerous people will be missed.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the findings were yet to signed off by ministers: “The counter-extremism sprint sought to comprehensively assess the challenge facing our country and lay the foundations for a new approach to tackling extremism – so we can stop people being drawn towards hateful ideologies. This includes tackling Islamism and extreme rightwing ideologies, which are the most prominent today.”



READ SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.