The Home Office team behind a controversial extremism review had previously claimed enjoying classic British sitcoms and great works of literature were signs of far-Right activity.
The leaked report – which branded concerns about two-tier policing as part of a ‘extreme Right-wing narrative’ – was produced by civil servants within the Prevent scheme’s Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU).
It was the same unit which previously provoked outrage by singling out TV shows Yes, Prime Minister, The Thick of It and Great British Railway Journeys as possible red flags for extremism.
Research by RICU revealed in 2023 also listed books by Shakespeare, Chaucer and Milton among ‘key texts’ of interest to ‘white nationalists/supremacists’.
Yesterday ministers were urged to sack Home Office staff amid outrage over the leaked findings of its counter-extremism review, which also claimed grooming gangs are an issue exploited by the far-right to stir up hatred against Muslims.
It also sparked fears for freedom of speech by proposing new ‘punitive measures’ for online comments deemed abusive including increased police use of Non Crime Hate Incidents.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick blasted: ‘The officials that produced this factually incorrect garbage are unfit to serve the public. They should be fired.’
And in the Commons Tory MP Robbie Moore asked: ‘Does the Minister agree with the language used in the report around grooming gangs?
The Home Office team behind a controversial extremism review had previously claimed enjoying classic British sitcoms, including The Thick Of It, were signs of far-Right activity
The leaked report was produced by civil servants within the Prevent scheme’s Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU), which previously said shows like Yes Minister pointed to a possible red flags for extremism
‘If not, how can he, or the Home Secretary, have faith in the Home Office officials?’
Security minister Dan Jarvis scrambled to disown the report, saying: ‘Many documents are produced across Government as part of commission work that are not implemented and that do not constitute Government policy.
‘These are not Government plans; this is not Government policy.’
Senior Conservative Sir Bernard Jenkin asked him: ‘Does that document not demonstrate that a large body of opinion has completely lost its way on how we deal with extremism and terrorist threats?
‘I urge him to encourage the Department to return to what Prevent is intended to achieve and not get distracted by all this political correctness, given that most of the country have no idea what a ‘non-hate crime incident’ is.’
The minister replied: ‘We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that we have the appropriate level of resource in the right place at the right time, so that the ever-evolving and complex nature of the threat we face-both in the United Kingdom and abroad-is appropriately addressed by our law enforcement agencies.’
Mr Jarvis said it would be right if the head of the civil service launched a leak inquiry to find out how the unpublished report found its way into the hands of the Policy Exchange think-tank.
He warned: ‘If I were the leaker, I would not be too comfortable at the moment.’
But he also insisted: ‘I am actually very proud of the civil servants in the Home Office, who work extremely hard day in, day out to keep our country safe from a diverse range of threats.’
