Free from fear or favour
No tracking. No cookies

Controversial ‘Anti-Extremism’ Adviser Lord Walney ‘Remains in Office’ Amid Confusion Over Role

The former Labour MP authored a report for Rishi Sunak demanding draconian new restrictions on the right to protest

Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on ‘what the papers don’t say’ – without fear or favour.

To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis.

Update: This piece has been amended (Tuesday 7pm), after initially reporting Lord Walney was no longer in post. Following several days of asking for confirmation, and after publication, the Home Office has now said the adviser remains in post. But The Times reports that his role is under review….

There was confusion on Tuesday after Keir Starmer’s Government belatedly insisted that the controversial ‘anti-extremism’ adviser, appointed by Rishi Sunak, remains in post, after initially suggesting to this paper that he had fulfilled his work for the Government.

Questions were first raised by this paper last week after Lord Walney, formerly John Woodcock, was listed by the London Assembly as being a “former” adviser to the Government.

However, after days of questions about his status, a Home Office spokesperson suggested that he had fulfilled his work for the Government as the ‘Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption’ and thanked him for the service.

But hours after this article’s publication, the department issued a statement insisting that he in fact “remains in post”.

Walney’s register of interests suggests that his other role as a Government trade envoy to Tanzania ended after the general election in July.

The former Labour MP, and adviser to the previous Conservative Government sparked ire among civil liberties campaigners and climate groups, after calling for a series of bans against groups protesting against defence and energy firms, while also working as a lobbyist for arms and fossil fuel industry groups.

Walney’s domestic extremism report, which was published in advance of the general election in May, had called for certain pro-Palestine and climate change protest groups to be effectively banned.

ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE

Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.

We’re not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.

At the time, Walney, formerly known as John Woodcock, had taken various roles as a paid adviser to lobbyists for the fossil fuel and defence industries.

He is recorded as having visited Israel in January this year, courtesy of Elnet, an NGO promoting 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 listed as a paid adviser to lobbyists Rud Pederson, clients of which include the oil and gas giant, Glencore.


Protest Rights

Walney’s extremism report had also backed a series of broader restrictions on protests.

These included:

EXCLUSIVE

Government ‘Anti-Extremism’ Protest Report Launched in Westminster by Think Tank with Ties to US Hard Right

The Counter Extremism Group has close ties both to Government – and to hard-right think tanks

Although hired by Sunak, Walney remained close to senior Labour figures. The launch of his extremism report earlier this year was chaired by Starmer adviser and former Labour minister Lord Mandelson.

As this paper revealed at the time, it was also hosted by the Counter Extremism Group, a think tank which does not disclose the sources of its funding and whose founder was accused of having ties to extreme “alt-right” groups in the US.

As reported by Byline Times in 2022, the Counter Extremism Group (CEG) is run as a profit-making business through a private limited company – Counter Extremism Network Ltd – which was founded in January 2020 by its then-director Robin Simcox.

Robin Simcox was appointed by then Home Secretary Priti Patel as the UK’s Commissioner for Countering Extremism at the Home Office in 2021. He made the front page of the Telegraph earlier this year after making the contested claim that Gaza protests had made central London a “no go zone for Jews”.

Starmer’s Government has yet to spell out its own plans on protest laws. However, the party has so far resisted calls to repeal the last government’s legislation restricting protests, with the Labour leader’s spokesman telling this paper earlier this year that he wanted the legislation to “bed in”.

“Just because there’s a power for police to do something, doesn’t mean they have to do it in every circumstance” he said.

Lord Walney was contacted for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.

The Home Office would not comment on the record.

View the autosave

Subscribers Get More from JOSIAH

Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.

So for more from him…


Written by

This article was filed under
, , , ,