Anyone who follows anti-Establishment comedian Russell Brand on Twitter could be classed as an ¡°extremist¡± under new anti-terror legislation, former business secretary Sir Vince Cable has warned.

In a wide-ranging critique of new counter-terrorism rules and guidelines that came into force for universities last month, Sir Vince said that he was concerned about how a new definition of extremism could ¡°apply to people with a whole manner of views¡±.

Speaking at an event at the University of London¡¯s Institute of Advanced Legal Studies on 27 October, the Liberal Democrat said that, under the new Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, those who ¡°encourage¡­the rejecting of the democratic system¡± would technically be classed as ¡°extremists¡± under recent legislation.

¡°Following Russell Brand on Twitter is [therefore] extremism as he is saying the same sort of thing,¡± he said.

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Sir Vince, who held responsibility for universities from 2010 until losing his Twickenham parliamentary seat in May¡¯s general election, also warned that new rules that require universities to vet external speakers to see whether they hold ¡°extremist¡± views are likely to be applied zealously by institutions, thereby inhibiting free speech.

¡°Universities ¨C being naturally risk-averse and cautious ¨C will err on the side of caution and try to stop certain Islamic speakers,¡± said Sir Vince.

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¡°They will then be accused of being Islamophobic and choose to ban other types of speakers¡­[and] pursue bland, uncontroversial debates, driving underground contentious debate that causes difficulty,¡± he added.

Pushing legitimate debate away from campuses was ¡°profoundly dangerous¡± because controversial views could not be challenged in the same way as they can during open forums at universities, said Sir Vince, a former president of the Cambridge Union.

¡°I have a serious problem with action to drive underground people who are described as ¡®extremists¡¯, which could be applied to people with a whole range of views,¡± he said.

For instance, many of the Salafist Muslims he had met held highly ¡°uncompromising¡± socially conservative views that could be construed as extreme, but they were fiercely opposed to violence, Sir Vince said.

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He claimed the original intentions of the Prevent strategy were well-intentioned, but it had ¡°morphed¡± into something that is ¡°heavy-handed and prescriptive¡±, he said.

¡°Prevent started with good intentions ¨C it was a genuine wish to deal with the roots of a problem,¡± he explained.

He also rejected the notion of a ¡°conveyor belt¡± between non-violent extremist thought and terrorist activity, saying that there was ¡°a lack of evidence¡± that one led to the other.

Sir Vince also said that the impetus for new counter-terrorism legislation had come from certain anti-terrorism thinktanks, rather than security services.

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¡°One of the main¡­pressure[s] to have tougher measures comes from Muslim community groups, like the Quilliam Foundation,¡± he said, referring to an organisation started by ex-Muslim radicals who are now opposed to extremism.

¡°They believe it is their experience that should guide policy ¨C pressure comes from there, rather than MI5 asking for more powers,¡± he said.

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jack.grove@tesglobal.com