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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
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| Counter-extremism: David Cameron extends powers to block passports | Counter-extremism: David Cameron extends powers to block passports |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| More parents will be able to ask for their children's passports to be cancelled if they fear they could go overseas to join terror groups. | More parents will be able to ask for their children's passports to be cancelled if they fear they could go overseas to join terror groups. |
| The power already covers under-16s, but will be widened to 16 and 17-year-olds. | The power already covers under-16s, but will be widened to 16 and 17-year-olds. |
| Anyone with a conviction for extremist activity will also be automatically barred from working with children and vulnerable people, under the plans. | Anyone with a conviction for extremist activity will also be automatically barred from working with children and vulnerable people, under the plans. |
| But Muslim leaders warned the strategy "continues down a flawed path" and risks "alienating" Muslims in Britain. | But Muslim leaders warned the strategy "continues down a flawed path" and risks "alienating" Muslims in Britain. |
| Parents of children aged under 16 have had the power to request the cancellation of passports - even where a child has taken or hidden the actual document - since July. | |
| Families can contact a passport office where officials will investigate their concerns before a final decision is taken by the home secretary. | |
| The government has already announced a number of other measures as part of its counter-extremism strategy, including: | The government has already announced a number of other measures as part of its counter-extremism strategy, including: |
| Police estimate at least 700 people from the UK have travelled to support or fight for jihadist organisations in Syria and Iraq, such as the so-called Islamic State. | |
| Home Secretary Theresa May said the passport measure had only been used by "a small number" of parents since July, but it was part of a package of new powers that would help tackle extremism. | |
| She also acknowledged, however, that in some cases it was parents themselves who were choosing to take their children overseas to join terrorist groups. | She also acknowledged, however, that in some cases it was parents themselves who were choosing to take their children overseas to join terrorist groups. |
| 'Compliance test' | 'Compliance test' |
| Meanwhile, the BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said new rules on working with children and vulnerable people would apply to anyone coming into contact with those groups, including volunteers, and would see extremists treated in the same way as sex offenders. | |
| Anyone leaving prison after serving a sentence for terror offences will also have to undergo compulsory de-radicalisation classes. | |
| Secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain Dr Shuja Shafi accused the prime minister of a "misguided 'conveyor-belt theory' analysis that conflates terrorism with subjective notions of extremism and Islamic practices" over his strategy. | |
| "Whether it is in mosques, education or charities, the strategy will reinforce perceptions that all aspects of Muslim life must undergo a 'compliance' test to prove our loyalty to this country," he said in a statement. | "Whether it is in mosques, education or charities, the strategy will reinforce perceptions that all aspects of Muslim life must undergo a 'compliance' test to prove our loyalty to this country," he said in a statement. |
| "These measures could be seen more as a means to address the anxieties a minority of people may have against Muslims and their religious life, rather than the scourge of terrorism itself." | "These measures could be seen more as a means to address the anxieties a minority of people may have against Muslims and their religious life, rather than the scourge of terrorism itself." |
| Dr Shafi also said he detected "McCarthyist undertones" in the plans to create blacklists and exclude and ban people those deemed to be extremists. | Dr Shafi also said he detected "McCarthyist undertones" in the plans to create blacklists and exclude and ban people those deemed to be extremists. |
| Analysis | Analysis |
| Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent | Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent |
| The government is talking about new specific deradicalisation programmes and "empowering" the UK's Syrians, Iraqis and Kurds to take a lead role in speaking out. | The government is talking about new specific deradicalisation programmes and "empowering" the UK's Syrians, Iraqis and Kurds to take a lead role in speaking out. |
| How exactly they plan to do this remains unclear - not least because there are very few people who are qualified to carry out deradicalisation work. The recent case of a Blackburn teenager who plotted terrorism on the other side of the world shows how such work can ultimately be in vain. | How exactly they plan to do this remains unclear - not least because there are very few people who are qualified to carry out deradicalisation work. The recent case of a Blackburn teenager who plotted terrorism on the other side of the world shows how such work can ultimately be in vain. |
| The elephant in the room is, of course, the internet. Ministers are trying to persuade social media companies to spend more of their dotcom millions on crushing extremism. | The elephant in the room is, of course, the internet. Ministers are trying to persuade social media companies to spend more of their dotcom millions on crushing extremism. |
| Many of these firms think there is only so much they can do when Islamic State recruits continually relaunch themselves online under a new guise. | Many of these firms think there is only so much they can do when Islamic State recruits continually relaunch themselves online under a new guise. |
| Can David Cameron's extremism plan work? | Can David Cameron's extremism plan work? |
| Mr Cameron, who on Sunday announced an extra £5m for grassroots campaigns and charities working to counter extremism in communities, said defeating Islamist extremism was "one of the biggest social problems we need to overcome". | Mr Cameron, who on Sunday announced an extra £5m for grassroots campaigns and charities working to counter extremism in communities, said defeating Islamist extremism was "one of the biggest social problems we need to overcome". |
| "We know that extremism is really a symptom; ideology is the root cause - but the stakes are rising and that demands a new approach," he continued. | "We know that extremism is really a symptom; ideology is the root cause - but the stakes are rising and that demands a new approach," he continued. |
| "So we have a choice - do we choose to turn a blind eye or do we choose to get out there and make the case for our British values?" | "So we have a choice - do we choose to turn a blind eye or do we choose to get out there and make the case for our British values?" |
| Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said Labour would support measures that were "reasonable, proportionate and evidence-based", but criticised Mr Cameron for having earlier this year implied that "the whole Muslim community quietly condones extremism". | |
| Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the announcements amounted to "rhetoric that may well divide communities and make our job of working with those communities to find and isolate terrorists and potential terrorists that much harder". | |