ACTIVIST groups like Extinction Rebellion, PETA and Greenpeace were named on UK counter-terror list alongside neo-Nazis.

Produced by Counter Terrorism Policing, the guide will be used across the country as part of training for the anti-radicalisation scheme called Prevent.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran, who attended yesterday’s youth strike at Bonn Square in the city centre, refused to brand Extinction Rebellion – the climate change group – as ‘extreme’.

She said: “It is simply not true.

“What you are doing there is capturing hundreds of thousands of people who just care deeply about the climate.”

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The MP revealed she had written to the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Education questioning the unorthodox decision.

Ms Moran added: "To brand them as extreme and dangerous is not fair.

"These people are passionate in my view for a very good reason."

As a result of this, some of the school children campaigning with Extinction Rebellion will be referred to the Prevent programme and possible to social services, which the MP argued is 'insane'.

She explained the dangerous of the government's 'blunt and zealous' approach: "There are unintended consequences and there may well be schools who feel like they have to and they will have the backing of the government."

While there are no reports of Oxfordshire pupils being referred to the Prevent programme or social services following activism but Ms Moran called for 'a more moderate approach' to Extinction Rebellion.

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Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, senior national co-ordinator for the UK's Counter Terrorism Policing, said police do not consider legitimate protest groups to be a threat to national security.

In a statement, Mr Haydon said: "The guidance document in question explicitly states that many of the groups included are not of counter-terrorism interest, and that membership of them does not indicate criminality of any kind.

"To suggest anything else is both unhelpful and misleading."

The next Extinction Rebellion meeting for the Oxford branch is set for Thursday, January 23 in Witney.

Kicking-off at 7pm and finishing at 9.30pm, it will be the first of six-weekly general gatherings where supporters discuss the group's actions.