Are you a socialist? What about your child? Or are you anti-abortion? Maybe anti-Monarchist? A communist? Do you know someone who is like that? Then the Government thinks you are showing signs of extremism and should be referred to Prevent

[cakeorwine]

And if you are a teacher, then you have a professional duty to report them

Socialism, anti-fascism and anti-abortion on Prevent list of terrorism warning signs | Prevent strategy | The Guardian

A document from Prevent, the official scheme to stop radicalisation, includes believing in socialism, communism, anti-fascism and anti-abortion in a list of potential signs of ideologies leading to terrorism.

It comes as the Conservative government considers widening what it will consider to be extremism.

The document is part of online Prevent awareness training for those covered by the duty to inform if they suspect radicalisation. That includes teachers and youth workers.

In a section on the left wing it states: “Two broad ideologies: socialism and communism. Each are united by a set of grievance narratives which underline their cause.”
In a section on single-issue ideologies, the document reads: “Narratives are likely to come from those who seek to change a specific policy or practice, as opposed to replacing the whole economic, political or social system. Examples include animal rights, anti-abortion or anti-fascism. Single-issue narratives can be politically agnostic, meaning they may be neither right nor left aligned.”

Neil Basu, a former police head of counter-terrorism, said: “That is far too nebulous, and there is no qualification. It might lead to unforeseen consequences such as overwhelming the system and bringing the system into disrepute.

The document:

You need to do the training to see the document

Awareness course | Prevent duty training (support-people-susceptible-to-radicalisation.service.gov.uk)

When does hating the poor and dispossed become extreme?

It's not just THIS government, it's ALL governments worldwide. You can't vote your way out of this. There's been similar laws introduced ìn many countries over the last couple of years.

Well, I'm now halfway through the final training and

1. I've not seen a single non-white face in the videos as an 'authority' in the process.
2. Apparently, medication can control Autism. So not taking that anti-Autism medication is a concern.
3. A white boy assaulting non-white boys isn't much to be concerned about, rather than a middle aged homeless Somalian woman ranting on the street corner.
4. Not long to go before I can download another certificate to add to the lever arch file of certificates.

And that's why Laurence Fox, Suella Braverman ,Liz Truss should be reported.

Or maybe, just maybe, too many people will fall under this radar - and the potential terrorists will get missed as resources get stretched and people who are a concern get through.

It sounds preposterous, and as though just being a vocal socialist would not be enough for the government or law to be interested on you.

However, during the eighties, my family's mail was being opened for a period of time, plus there were odd sounds on the phone during the same period. It has since been revealed that there WAS a government list, and I'm sure my family was on it.

My dad was a labour/co-op party member, and we had family membership on CND, and I think Greenpeace. We attended meetings and protests, but were never arrested and never did anything criminal.

So, with sadness, I can believe that you could indeed be considered a dangerous radical for holding socialist beliefs and everything else on the list. The current political landscape feels very similar in many ways.

I shall hand myself in forthwith.

Report them then. If you think you have enough evidence that they are dangerous extremists, report them.

I'm absolutely no fan of any of them, but you are being deliberately obtuse and refusing to think about how prevent actually works.

I just skip the videos on the online Prevent training. I'll look out for the socialist one next time and hand myself in.

I am sure the women fighting to get votes for women would have been referred to the Prevent programme.
As would the workers who fought to get Union recognition, votes for workers - and definitely the people at the Peterloo massacre.

If you get referred to the Prevent programme, how does that affect your life?

Well I am definitively a socialist (proud of it too!) and a republican, on account of being French, which makes me an immigrant as I live in the UK.
I am doomed!

Didn't know about this. Shocking...

As far as I am aware no anti-fascist stabbed an MP and her aide
All reports were about far right leaning ideologies being more likely to use violence and have weapon idolatry
Violent mobs are more likely to be far right than far left in recent years

I'd love to know where they are getting ideas that the protests to help Gaza are somehow violent mobs. It's a far cry from anything I've seen on the news.

Thankfully, they provided a transcript of each video, so they could be scanned through in a couple of seconds.

Extremism can come from any angle.

It's too simplistic and negligent to assume that your problems will always come from a fascist angle even though I agree that it is, in recent years, one of the main drivers.

You can't just assume that X political leaning is safe and Y political leaning is dangerous. Everything can present a risk when taken to the extremities.

However - numbers referred are actually low

Individuals referred to Prevent: to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In the year ending 31 March 2023, there were 6,817 referrals to Prevent. This is an increase of 6.4% compared to the previous year (6,406), and the third highest number of referrals since the first period reported on (2015/16). The increase is predominately driven by an increase in referrals from the Education, Community and Police sectors which saw increases of 16%, 16% and 7% respectively.

For the third year running, the number of referrals for Extreme Right-Wing concerns (1,310; 19%) is greater than referrals for Islamist concerns (781; 11%).

Of the 645 referrals that went on to be adopted as a Channel case, 296 (46%) were for Extreme Right-Wing concerns, 115 (18%) were for Islamist concerns, and 103 (16%) were for those with a Conflicted ideology.

Maybe the numbers will go up now?

i'm an extreme socialist. What will happen to me? Will I have to go for far right training?

Absolutely true.
Better to be safe than sorry
I hope to see those numbers rising - with the new guidance in place.

Isn't Putin claiming to be anti-facist? That's the justification he's using for invading Ukraine. Clearly if you say that your opponent is a Nazi you can do whatever you like.

On a point of history, I'd be interested to know what part you think Fascism played in causing the First World War. Fascists were active in Italy in 1914 but Italy wasn't a big player in the war, and I can't see that Fascism had any role in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Central Powers invading Serbia (Austria hadn't consulted Italy before doing so), the Allies retaliating etc.

@DdraigGoch if you look at this definition of fascism here:

often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of oppositionT

The first part of that definition very aptly describes the propaganda material that was used in the runup to WW1. You have but to look it up. The movement didn't have a name at that point, but the roots of the fascism that was one of the drivers of WW2 were already very much present.

If you want to be nitpicky about it, you can call it 'proto-fascism' if that makes you happier.

I reckon Keir ought to be careful, they might soon add knowing the legal definition of a woman to being an extremist.

🚴Sorry for being an incel

You appear to be minimising fascism.
And "punch a terf" rhetoric is as much to do with the left wing as Tommy Robinson is to do with the right wing.

It's also surely foolish not to see rhetoric inciting further "extremism" if you repeatedly don't listen to what a lot of the country are having to protest to be heard about - aid to Gaza. It's humanitarianism they are trying to call extremism in this case.

Do you seriously think the police should be monitoring socialists/anti monarchists/antifascists etc?
They don't have the resources to monitor paedophiles or arrest rapists ffs

History repeats. America in the 1950s/60s, the era of McCarthyism.

I'm not a radical I don't think, apart from being an extreme atheist. Never mind God, I don't think ANYTHING paranormal exists. That aside I'm fairly moderate.

Just curious, are there any examples of socialist terrorism in the UK?