Ministers have been accused of “downplaying” the threat posed by Islamist fanatics as a leaked Government report suggests ignoring ideology.

A Home Office “Rapid Analytical Sprint” of government policy on extremism said it should take an “ideologically agnostic approach” and instead focus on “behaviours and activity of concern”.

This could include claims of “two-tier policing”, which are an example of a “Right-wing extremist narrative” which is “leaking into mainstream debates”.

Critics warned the move will swamp counter-terrorism police and MI5 with thousands more cases involving people not considered to be a national security threat.

They also claimed the Government “risks losing focus on ideologically motivated terrorists” and, in particular, Islamist extremists, who make up three-quarters of MI5’s cases.

Paul Stott and Andrew Gilligan, from Policy Exchange, warned in a report on the leaked document: “One of counter-extremism’s key problems has always been deciding which of the many individuals who come to their attention they should focus their limited resources on.

“Including a range of other crimes and social ills in the remit risks swamping already-stretched interveners and counter-terror police with tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of new cases.

“It makes it more likely that dangerous people will be missed or not properly dealt with, as in the case of the murderer of David Amess MP.”

They added: “Many of these supposed other extremisms simply do not meet the test of harming national security or safety.

“Government should certainly be alarmed by, and should tackle, violence against women and other social harms – but they do not constitute extremism as defined up till now.

“Some of the definitions of extremism are also threaten free speech, defining aspects of normal and legitimate political debate as extremist.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “By extending the definition of extremism so widely, the Government risks losing focus on ideologically motivated terrorists who pose the most risk to life.

“In fact, the Shawcross Review of Prevent made clear that counter-extremism and the counterterrorism strategy should be more focused on terrorist ideology, not less.

“Prevent must be equipped to deal with the terrorist threats in our society, and we should not be dialling back efforts to confront this.

“We c annot overlook the fact that Islamist terrorism is responsible for 94% of terrorist-caused deaths in the last 25 years.

“The Government may want to ignore this, but they have an overriding duty to protect the public.

“Other appalling and unacceptable criminal behaviour that is not ideologically motivated – of which there are many kinds – should be dealt with via the police and criminal justice system, and via other agencies such as social services and mental health services, including sectioning those that present a risk.”

The leaked Home Office report suggested the UK’s approach to extremism should be based on concerning behaviours and activity rather than ideologies.

Those include spreading misinformation, influencing racism, and involvement in “an online subculture called the manosphere”, according to the Policy Exchange.

The think tank said the review lists “behaviours and activity of concern” and “damaging extremist beliefs” including misogyny, violence against women and girls and having a “fixation on gore and violence without adherence to an extremist ideology”.

It also lists “spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories”, “influencing racism and intolerance” and involvement in an “online subculture called the manosphere”.

Claims of two-tier policing are an extreme right-wing narrative, according to the leaked Home Office review.

Policy Exchange added: “The Sprint says that “claims of ‘two-tier’ policing” are a “right-wing extremist narrative” and that grooming gangs are an “alleged” problem “frequently exploit[ed]” by the far-right.”

The Southport atrocity – where monster Axel Rudakubana stabbed three schoolgirls to death and attempted to kill eight more – exposed how little monitoring there is of people obsessed with violence if there is no terrorist ideology underpinning it.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has suggested changing the definition of terrorism to cover violence that terrorises members of the public.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper admitted numerous agencies “failed to identify the terrible risk” Rudakubana posed.

Ms Cooper confirmed the teenager was referred to the Government’s counterterrorism scheme – Prevent – three times.

And he “also had contact with the police, the courts, the youth justice system, social services and mental health services”, Ms Cooper confirmed.

The Sprint also recommends the creation of a “dedicated national investigations capability” to “co-ordinate and take on protest and low-level extremism operations and investigations” and a digital “national centre of excellence for the monitoring and disruption of protest.”

It recommends reversing a code of practice to limit the number of “non-crime hate incidents” being recorded and floats the idea of creating a new crime of making “harmful communications” online, according to Policy Exchange.

It says claims of “two-tier” policing are an example of a “Right-wing extremist narrative”.

Mr Philp added: “Non-Crime Hate Incidents, where there is no imminent risk of criminality, often waste police time and infringe freedom of speech.

“The last Government made important changes to ensure that personal data is only recorded and investigations only take place where there is an imminent risk of actual criminality.

“That is a sensible approach and any move away from that threatens unreasonable police intrusion and freedom of speech, besides risking wasting police time.

“What the Government seem to be planning is a backwards step in the interests of the political correctness we know Keir Starmer loves.

“Starmer wants the thought police to stop anyone telling uncomfortable truths that he and his left-wing lawyer friends don’t like.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The counter-extremism sprint sought to comprehensively assess the challenge facing our country and lay the foundations for a new approach to tackling extremism – so we can stop people being drawn towards hateful ideologies.

“This includes tackling Islamism and extreme Right-wing ideologies, which are the most prominent today.

“The findings from the sprint have not been formally agreed by Ministers and we are considering a wide range of potential next steps arising from that work.”