Starmer axes political violence tsar who backed climate protests crackdown
Sir Keir Starmer has axed the Government's political violence tsar who had called for tougher powers to tackle extremists behind climate change and anti-Israel protests.
The Home Office is scrapping the post held by Lord Walney, whose responsibilities will be transferred to a new expanded commissioner for counter-extremism role as part of a wider overhaul of how protest and extremism are monitored by the Home Office.
Lord Walney was appointed as the UK Government's independent adviser on political violence and disruption by former prime minister Boris Johnson.
He has been a target of protesters himself, who have blamed him for a police crackdown that has led to the imprisonment of more than 50 Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action demonstrators.
'Noble causes hijacked by extremist groups'
The former Labour MP recently warned that far-Left groups, particularly those involved in climate change protests and anti-Israeli movements, were a danger to the rule of law.
'Noble causes such as the battle against climate change have been hijacked by extremist groups, determined to bypass democratic norms and cause maximum destruction to society,' he said.
In a wide-ranging report drawn up last May for ministers, Lord Walney proposed police should get new powers to ban protests that were likely to intimidate and disrupt communities. Chief constables would be able to block marches due to the 'cumulative' disruption and 'persistent' threats to public order caused by protests.
Under his plans, police forces would also be allowed to impose conditions on protests and limit their frequency if they judged that it was diverting too many officers away from fighting crime in local communities.
In a post on X reacting to the scrapping of his role, Lord Walney urged ministers to adopt his proposals and show 'they understand the depth of the public's contempt for activists who unlawfully disrupt their lives and cause criminal damage to get their way.'
He added: 'The forthcoming crime and policing bill is an important opportunity to give police forces greater ability to balance the right to protest with the cumulative harm that weekly demonstrations can cause to communities and the huge drain on police resources at a time [when] they are already overstretched.'
Islamist and far-Right extremism biggest UK threats
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, ordered a 'sprint' review of the Government's counter-extremism strategy after the summer riots sparked by the murders of three young girls at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport.
However, she rejected key parts of a leaked version of the review which said that the approach to tackling extremism should no longer be based on specific ideologies such as Islamism or the far-Right but 'on behaviours and activity of concern.'
She maintained that Islamist extremism, followed by far-Right extremism, remained the biggest threats the UK faced and the focus of the UK's counter-extremism strategy.
Lord Walney is understood to have been assured that ministers are considering his key proposals. A Home Office spokesman said: 'His work will continue to inform our approach as we move forward to assess the complex challenges facing our country.
'We want to thank Lord Walney for his dedicated work as Independent Adviser and his vital contribution to the UK Government's understanding of political violence and disruption.'
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