A Manchester MP called the Government's hypocrisy in its plans to broaden the official definition of extremism. 

In the House of Commons, Afzal Khan MP highlighted the Prime Minister's failure to address the extremism and Islamophobia from within his party whilst championing the need to crackdown on extremism in Britain. 

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove MP, is due to announce on Thursday that the Government's definition of extremism will be broadened to catch groups that subvert British democracy and to focus more on ideology than purely on words or actions. 

Though the new definition will not name organisations specifically, Gove is expected to name these organisations in the House of Commons. Reports indicate this will include the Muslim Council of Britain, the largest and most diverse representative body for the British Muslim community in the UK. 

 

 

Questioning the Prime Minister in the Chamber, Afzal Khan said:  "Despite serious opposition from the Archbishop of Canterbury, three former home secretaries and three government advisors - on antisemitism, social cohesion and on political violence, the Levelling Up Secretary is due to widen the definition of extremism tomorrow.

"Whilst on the benches opposite, members peddle far-right conspiracy theories about Islamists and Muslims taking over Britain, shouldn’t the Prime Minister’s priority be getting his own house in order, and stamping out extremism, racism and Islamophobia from within the Conservative Party? Will the Prime Minister finally take Islamophobia seriously and agree to the definition?"