Editorial: The two main political parties at Westminster should form a common front against real hatred

​The UK government has unveiled a new definition as to extremism.

Groups covered by the definition will be denied access to government funding.

The definition describes extremism as “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance” that aims to “negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others” or “undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights”.

The Communities Secretary Michael Gove has said the new definition would “ensure that government does not inadvertently provide a platform to those setting out to subvert democracy”.

This is an important development that should be monitored closely in Northern Ireland. We know all about the way in which defenders of terrorism not only use the seductive language of human rights in which to present their own hatreds, but how they play the victim too. There is no hate mob on the web in this province akin to anonymous Irish republican bots and bullies, yet these very same people are among the first to accuse others of hatred and bigotry.

In the rest of the UK, there is a growing problem with Islamic extremism, which festers in the same hypocrisy.

By far the biggest security threat and the biggest threat to ancient liberties in Britain is fanatical Muslims.

Yet, incredibly, when the government has tried to crack down on such philosophies it has ended up persecuting mild mannered Christians for saying supposedly offensive things.

It is essential that free speech is protected in the part of the world which pioneered it over hundreds of years. This government has not had great success in tackling extremism, but nor did its Labour predecessor. With a change of government likely, it is something on which the two main parties must find common ground.