Beyond Definitions: The Need for a Comprehensive Human Rights-Based UK Extremism Policy Strategy

By Milo Comerford and Hannah Rose

The UK hate and extremism threat landscape faces a new era of contemporary threats, characterised by an increasingly diverse and amorphous set of threat actors. Since October 7, harmful online content and systems have catalysed real world threats to public safety, social cohesion and democracy across borders. However, policy and legislative responses are often slow to adapt to the rapid pace of change and struggle to respond to the increasingly hybridised contemporary threat environment.

In the first part of this paper, ISD provides a landscape assessment of the extremism, targeted hate and hostile state actors threats currently facing the UK. It evidences the broad ideological spectrum of extremism, analysing the communities impacted by targeted hate and exploring the intersection of these harm areas.

In the second section, the paper explores a roadmap for a holistic policy strategy capable of responding to the interconnectivity of these threats, including practical considerations for the effective implementation of a coordinated cross-government strategy.

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue. 2024, 28pg