Starmer’s “anti-extremism” adviser, Lord Walney, has been booted unceremoniously from his post – just a day after the anniversary of the Hamas bombings. Bizarrely, the news broke through the hard left propaganda site Byline Times, with a Home Office spokesman confirming to the highly marginal site that Walney was no longer the Government’s ‘Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption.’ Guido hears Walney himself did not find out with much notice, having been under the impression that he’d stay on as Labour conducted a review of their extremism policies…
Lord Walney’s been a thorn in the side of Extinction Rebellion and other extremists groups for a while, having written a report recommending the police be given more powers to curb disruptive, extreme protests. Extinction Rebellion held a protest at the end of last month demanding the government sacked him – which would have been a very good reason to keep him on. And now Labour has bent the knee to their green mob, casting aside a well-respected expert adviser in the (lack of) process…
UPDATE: Walney “remains in post,” Byline has corrected their false article, The Times says he could be on the way out. A mess…
Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns told Times Radio she would have put a precondition on a China trip if she were PM:
“I would have put a precondition that I was not going to go if I was prime minister, unless Jimmy Lai was coming home with me. I would also put a precondition in the six months leading up to the visit that I wanted a reduction in hostile acts against our country. But that’s not what we saw. And actually, in contrast, what we saw was clearly the Chinese Communist Party did put a precondition, which was that the new embassy in London had to be signed off. So why is it okay for China to set preconditions and to make very clear red lines about what they require for a visit, but we go without having put any ourselves?”