A group of over 50 Christian leaders have highlighted the dangers of the government’s plans to introduce Extremism Disruption Orders (EDOs).
In a letter to the Telegraph, the leaders branded the proposals a “disaster” for the church.
Signatories to the letter, which include the newly consecrated Bishop of Maidstone and the chief executive of Christian Concern, Andrea Williams, said that the government’s stated goal to tackle extremism in all its forms “casts the net so wide that almost anyone could fall into it”.
The extremism ‘test’ that will likely be used under the plans “threatens the very democracy [the EDOs] are meant to protect”, the letter continued.
The leaders highlighted how the vagueness of the term ‘extremism’ leaves EDOs wide open to abuse. Christians are already labelled “extremists” by those who simply “disagree with Christianity”, they said.
EDOs, which are expected to be included in a forthcoming ‘counter-extremism’ bill, have already attracted widespread concern.
‘Misplaced zeal’
In July, Lord Evans, a former head of the security service, MI5, wrote in the Telegraph:
“The forthcoming Counter-Extremism Bill aims to crack down on extremism but definitions will be crucial, and implementation of the new powers will be fraught with risk. One can imagine already the powers being used against harmless evangelical street preachers or the like, out of misplaced zeal and a desire to demonstrate that they are not directed against one religion alone.”
Plans for EDOs were outlined by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, at last year’s Conservative Party conference.
Following Liberal Democrat opposition, however, the proposals were not implemented in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, although various other measures were included.
Abuse of power
At the time of Mrs May’s speech last autumn, Dominic Raab, who is now a justice minister, warned of the dangers of the proposed orders:
“The public should certainly expect the security services to track terrorists online, but the broad powers of proposed Extremism Disruption Orders (EDO) could be abused.
“Those engaged in passionate debates – such as Christians objecting to gay marriage – could find themselves slapped down. Monarchists or communists (like the late militant union leader, Bob Crow) could be swept up for peacefully expressing their political views.”
Last month, Polly Harrow, who is responsible for implementing the government’s Prevent strategy at a college in Huddersfield, told BBC Radio 4 that expressing “out loud” the view that homosexuality is wrong could be illegal:
“If that’s what you think and that’s what you believe and you want to hold that in your head, that is your business and your right, but bear in mind that if you speak it out loud you might be breaking the law,” she said.
In August it was revealed that a Conservative MP had told a constituent that EDOs might be used against teachers who said that same-sex ‘marriage’ was wrong:
“The new legislation specifically targets hate speech, so teachers will still be free to express their understanding of the term ‘marriage’, and their moral opposition to its use in some situations without breaking the new laws.
“The EDOs, in this case, would apply to a situation where a teacher was specifically teaching that gay marriage is wrong,” Mark Spencer, MP for Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, wrote.
Last month, assistant editor of the Telegraph Philip Johnston commented that the understanding that marriage requires a man and a woman, which was “until recently an orthodox, mainstream view founded on religious belief” is now considered “hateful and potentially criminal.”
“This is why a campaign against the Bill is being mounted, not just by Muslims who fear they will be unfairly targeted for religious utterances but also by Christian and secular organisations. The Government promises to direct these new powers against terrorist sympathisers, yet we have seen too often in the past how laws introduced for one purpose are used for another,” he explained.
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