Back to Westminster, where Michael Gove has revealed his brand new definition of extremism today in a bid to push back against fanaticism. The communities secretary has offered assurances that there will be a high bar for defining a group as extremist, and that a ‘rigorous process’ would be followed when identifying group of concern. Affected organisations will miss out on government grants and ministerial meetings. Critics have suggested the broader definition could have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech however and some rather, er, unusual alliances have formed in protest at the move.
The communities secretary found himself in a tight spot this morning on the morning round. The politician was grilled on his new definition before interviewers turned to the talking point of the week: Frank Hester. Gove was asked whether Hester’s comments about Diane Abbott – in which he said that Abbott makes ‘you just want to hate all black women’ and that ‘she should be shot’ – would make Hester an extremist under his new definition. But
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