THE Government's extremism advisor and former Barrow MP John Woodcock claims there is a 'concerted campaign' to remove him from his role.

Mr Woodcock, who took the title Lord Walney when he was made a peer by Boris Johnson in 2020, became a government advisor on political violence and disruption. 

His comments came after The Good Law Project wrote a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper demanding Lord Walney be removed from his position, alleging that he is being paid by lobbying organisations whose clients include oil and gas companies and those selling weapons to Israel. 

Lord Walney has been critical of climate crisis groups and Palestine protesters, outlining the consistent disruption caused in central London by demonstrations in his report. 

A dossier of alleged evidence was attached to the Good Law Project's petition. "We believe [this dossier] shows Walney should not be in post as the government’s protest adviser," the petition, which has attracted 10,000 signatures, states.

Lord Walney said: "Extreme protest groups and their sympathisers are conducting a concerted campaign to remove me because they oppose my proposals to restrict criminal damage and severe disruption in the name of progressive causes and measures to tackle antisemitism at marches.

"My conclusions as an advisor independent of government were meticulously researched, objectively reached and my interests are all properly declared." 

Last week, the Byline Times published an article initially reporting that he was no longer in post, which has since been amended.

The day after on October 9, The Times claimed that Lord Walney's position was under review. 

Despite the furore over his position, Lord Walney still attended a London Assembly crime committee panel as part of his ongoing advisory role, where some of the recommendations in his report received a grilling from the members and a fellow panelist. 

Lord Walney's report was laid before the House of Commons on May 21, days before the previous Conservative government called the election. It is now being reviewed by the current Labour ministers. 

A former Labour MP, Lord Walney resigned from the party in 2018 after falling out with the leadership under Jeremy Corbyn. He sat as an independent MP before becoming a crossbench peer in the House of Lords.