A NATIONAL Youth Theatre play, Homegrown, which explores the ‘radicalisation’ of young people attracted to Islamic State (IS) has been suddenly cancelled.

The NYT, no doubt fearful for its own grants, pulled the play. Its creators claim that during a production meeting they were told the police wanted to view a final draft of the script.

What kind of society are we becoming when the police become theatre critics?

Whatever talents the police have, being a theatre critic does not spring to mind.

Until 1968, the Lord Chamberlain was responsible for theatre censorship. In the 1930s he refused to license plays criticising Nazi Germany.

We are told that the terrorists hate British values. What better way to do their work than to censor a play? The government’s counter-extremist strategy is the thin end of the wedge.

It criminalises freedom of speech. Universities must vet who speaks on campus. Schools must report students who are defined as ‘extremist’. One student was interviewed by the police for displaying a ‘free Palestine’ badge.

Theresa May and the political pygmies surrounding her have defined the threat we face as one of ‘extremism’.

Their purpose is all too transparent. ‘Extremism’ is a code word for any radical political activity not to their liking.

It is a relative term.

The suffragettes were once considered extremists.

As the Republican candidate for American President, Barry Goldwater, said in 1964: “Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

If we want to defeat IS then Cameron could start by condemning Turkey for bombing the Kurdish PKK. The Turkish state, which has nurtured IS, is now attacking the only group that has successfully fought them.

  • Tony Greenstein is a political activist.