Citing a copy of the phrasebook, aimed at making government communication more sophisticated and prevent misunderstandings, the newspaper said on Monday the guide instructed civil servants to 'avoid implying that specific communities are to blame' for extremist activities.

'This is not intended as a definitive list of what not to say but rather to highlight terms which risk being misunderstood and therefore prevent the effective reception of the message,' the guide, compiled by the Home Office (interior ministry), reads.

'This is not about political correctness, but effectiveness - evidence shows that people stop listening if they think you are attacking them.'

The guide advises civil servants not to use terms such as 'Jihadi/fundamentalist' because they suggest there is 'an explicit link between Islam and terrorism' and suggests terms such as 'criminal/murder/thug' instead.

A Home Office spokesman confirmed that the guide had been forwarded to 'key delivery partners', such as police chief constables, local authorities and government departments in the last few weeks.

'The pack is the first of a series of communications intended to brief partners about recent work to develop the 'prevent' strand of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy and help them to identify further contributions they can make to this agenda,' she said.

'Coherent and effective cross-government communications are important in relation to countering terrorism. Language is part of this work.

'To engage effectively with local communities, we need consistent, clear and appropriate communications. If our messages are ambiguous or untargeted they will not reach or be understood by those who need to hear them and we risk having a negative impact on our audiences.' -- AFP