The Prime Minister is to put tackling extremism at the heart of the next Queen’s Speech, according to The Times.

Wanting to avoid accusations of being a ‘lame-duck’ prime minister, Mr Cameron will use the Speech on May 18 to announce a new Extremism Bill, aimed at cracking down on violent and non-violent extremism.

The bill will include measures to target extremists, such as gagging orders and powers to close down organisations judged to be promoting extremism.

But critics have already voiced concerns about the potential impact of the government’s plans on free speech and freedom of religion.

Last year, the Defend Free Speech coalition was launched, bringing together groups and individuals in society to campaign for free speech.

Concerns have focused on Extremism Defence Orders or EDO's, which critics warn will mean “innocent people will fall foul of the law for merely holding unpopular, traditional or challenging views”.

In October 2015, CARE’s Chief Executive Nola Leach was one of 50 influential Christian leaders who signed a letter in the Daily Telegraph warning about the potential impact the government’s extremism proposals could have on free speech.

A Home Office source told The Times: “Getting agreement about the thresholds for what constitutes extremism and what needs to be protected as free speech is not going to be easy or straightforward.”

Read more on the story in The Times (£).

Image taken from www.gov.uk website