Government Review on Political Violence Proposes Full Shutdown of Protest

London - The review by John Woodcock, the UK government’s ‘independent’ advisor on political violence and disruption, is a desperate attempt to criminalise and shut down any protest the government deems disruptive. The report deliberately conflates protest with terrorism so as to create and exploit prejudices to justify an infrastructure of authoritarian laws. 

CAGE International has long documented this strategy, which was built on targeting Muslim-led organisations, but due to the lack of outcry from civil liberties groups has now expanded to include any group challenging the state. This review reflects a neoconservative ideology intent on redefining the citizen-state relationship, to one which strips the citizen of rights and protects the government and corporations. According to these ideologues, complex policy decisions, including illegal invasions and genocides, are deemed too intricate for the public to understand. This move pushes Britain deeper into authoritarianism, eroding civil liberties and setting dangerous precedents against already marginalised minorities communities. 

Through manufacturing categories then recommending funding and legislation to tackle these new categories, Walney is seeking to shut down the capacity for civil society groups to mobilise and take action. The review's central drive is to censor and silence pro-Palestine activism, but effectively does the same for any protest movement.. Furthermore, politicians and corporations involved in the crimes against humanity being protested against by named groups will be shielded from accountability. 

It is important to highlight that Woodcock, the review's author, was a chair of the Labour Friends of Israel and has received funding from the Israel Lobby and arms industry, destroying any notion of impartiality. This lobby is solely focussed on protecting the apartheid settler colony of Israel, but the outcome will result in an erosion of centuries of hard won freedoms.

Anas Mustapha, head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, said:

“This review signals a full shutdown of the freedoms of expression and assembly, forcing compliance with unjust policies that support and facilitate a genocide. CAGE’s analysis over the past 20 years has established that the erosion of civil liberties under the securitisation umbrella leads to authoritarian measures which go against the public interest.

We have consistently warned against these incremental expansions of state power. This review is another step in a longstanding agenda to curtail freedoms under the guise of security. No legislation can stifle the moral imperative to protest against war crimes and state complicity.”

Picture by Nikolaj Habib on Unsplash