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Canned Labour advisor wants more bans like Palestine Action

John Woodcock – a.k.a. lord Walney – has called for the government to further clamp down on protesters:


Woodcock made a similar argument in February this year when the government sacked him from an advisory role.

Labour reject Woodcock

If you were around in the Corbyn years, you’ll remember that Woodcock was one of the leadership’s biggest critics. This is how the BBC described his exit:

Lord Walney, a long-time critic of Jeremy Corbyn, left the Labour Party under his leadership, saying the party had been “taken over by the hard left” and “tolerated” antisemitism.

What they fail to mention is that Labour was investigating Woodcock over sexual harassment claims. Woodcock stopped cooperating with the investigation before he made his exit, claiming that the investigation was ‘politically motivated’ – a claim that’s easy to make when you’re part of a political party.

Boris Johnson made Woodcock a lord in 2020; he then made him an adviser on political violence and disruption. The ‘violence and disruption’ in question was that which comes from those who oppose government actions – not the state violence which gives people reason to protest in the first place.

Here’s what Woodcock said in 2024 as part of a report into ‘extreme protest groups’:

Militant groups like Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil are using criminal tactics to create mayhem and hold the public and workers to ransom without fear of consequence.

Banning terror groups has made it harder for their activists to plan crimes – that approach should be extended to extreme protest groups too.

In Woodcock’s world, every worthwhile protest movement in history would be prohibited.

The reason we protest

People want to know why the media give Woodcock so much air time:

It seems like Woodcock just hates the thought of people protesting against (or investigating) unseemly behaviour.

It’s almost as if he condones the things that people protest against, isn’t it?

Featured image via Sky News (YouTube)

By Willem Moore

This post was originally published on Canary.