Extending extremism definition risks fuelling unlawful protest, warns Greenpeace UK

Michael Gove told that cracking down on peaceful demonstrations creates space for less law-abiding protesters

Attempts by the government to capture more groups in its official definition of extremism risk fuelling the very extremism it claims to be trying to oppose, Greenpeace UK has said.

Ahead of an expected announcement by Michael Gove on Thursday, Areeba Hamid, joint executive director of the group, warned that shrinking the space for peaceful protesters in the UK would encourage others to go down the path of more destructive and unlawful forms of protest.