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Update: This article has been corrected after initially reporting that Lord Walney was no longer in post (7pm Tuesday). After several days of seeking confirmation, and after publication, the Home Office announced that the adviser remains in his post.
On Tuesday, Keir Starmer’s government belatedly announced that Rishi Sunak’s controversial “counter-extremism” adviser, appointed by Rishi Sunak, will remain in his post after initially suggesting to this newspaper that he had fulfilled his duties for the government. This caused confusion.
This newspaper first raised the question last week after Lord Walney (formerly John Woodcock) was listed in the London Assembly as a ‘former’ adviser to the government.
However, after several days of questioning about his status, a Home Office spokesperson suggested that he had served the government as an “independent adviser on political violence and disorder” and thanked him for his work.
However, hours after the article was published, the ministry issued a statement claiming that he would, in fact, “remain in post.”
Mr Walney’s register of interests suggests his other role as Tanzanian government trade envoy ended after the July general election.
A former Labor MP and adviser to the previous Conservative government, he has also worked as a lobbyist for the arms and fossil fuel industries, while calling for a series of bans on groups protesting against defense and energy companies, leading to a rise in the ranks of freedom campaigners. That drew the ire of climate change groups. group.
Walney’s report on domestic extremism, released ahead of May’s general election, called for the effective banning of certain pro-Palestinian and climate change protest groups.
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At the time, Walney, formerly known as John Woodcock, was working in various roles as a paid advisor to fossil fuel and defense industry lobbyists.
He is recorded as having visited Israel in January, courtesy of the NGO Elnet, which promotes cooperation between Europe and Israel. It was founded in 2007 as a European pro-Israel advocacy group to counter “widespread criticism of Israel in Europe.”
He was also a paid consultant to Rudd Pederson, a lobbyist whose clients include oil and gas giant Glencore.
right to protest
Mr Walney’s extremism report also supported a range of far-reaching restrictions on protests.
These include:
The power to ban or limit the frequency of protests on cost grounds The power to ban a protest group from organizing or raising funds if the group is determined to be causing “significant disruption” The organization and funding of a protest group Powers to ban gatherings judged to be causing “serious disorder” Expanding the definition of “serious disorder” to allow police to criminalize a wider range of protests Businesses can use disorder as a reason for protest groups New powers to sue protesters; Allow police to pay for security to protest groups; Power to create exclusion zones around “places essential to the functioning of democratic governance” to protect against “unreasonable protests”;
exclusive
Counter-extremism groups have close ties to both the government and far-right think tanks
Josiah Mortimer
Despite being hired by Mr Sunak, Mr Walney remained close to the Labor leadership. The release of the extremism report earlier this year was chaired by Lord Mandelson, Starmer’s adviser and former Labor secretary.
As the newspaper revealed at the time, the organization also hosts the Counter-Extremism Group, a think tank whose funding sources have not been disclosed, and whose founders have ties to extreme “alt-right” groups in the United States. It’s been criticized.
As reported by Byline Times in 2022, Counter Extremism Group (CEG) was established as a for-profit business in January 2020 through a private limited company, Counter Extremism Network Ltd., set up by then-director Robin Simcox. It is operated.
Robin Simcox was appointed by the then Home Secretary Priti Patel in 2021 as the Home Office Commissioner for Countering Extremism. He made the front page of the Telegraph earlier this year with his controversial claim that protests in Gaza had given central London a “no”. Go to the zone for Jews. ”
Starmer’s government has yet to reveal its own plans for protest laws. But the party has so far resisted calls to repeal the previous government’s legislation restricting protests, with a spokesperson for the Labor leader telling this newspaper earlier this year that the bill was “here to stay”. He said he wanted it.
“Just because the police have the power to do something doesn’t mean they have to do it in every situation,” he says.
Lord Walney was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication.
The Interior Ministry declined to comment on the record.
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