John Woodcock. Co-chair of APPG on Defending Democracy. Political violence, disruption and counter extremism. Crossbench peer, Ex-Barrow MP and No10 spokesman.
Barrow and Furness
Joined April 2009
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Launching my report this morning. Undue Influence: the Iranian Regime’s Abuse of the UK Charity System. Download it here ⬇️
powerfulstreet.com/Undue_Inf…
Lord Walney retweeted
Best anecdote in Carol Thatcher's book about her father is when Sir Denis boarded a train at Paddington in which the only empty compartment was reserved for Rosewood Psychiatric Hospital.
Denis travelled alone and in comfort as far as Reading when "all these chaps piled in", accompanied by a male nurse, who counted them before the train moved off.
'One, two, three, four ... who are you?"
"I'm the Prime Minister's husband."
"Six, seven, eight, nine..."
Lord Walney retweeted
An oldie but a goodie. In 1968 a bunch of entitled hippy bastards sent a letter detailing their specious demands to the Warden and Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford. This was their letter of reply, which speaks to how far the academy has since fallen.
Lord Walney retweeted
If you have time / interest / need of distraction please do read this long write-up of four interviews I’ve done with Andy Burnham since he became PM.
Port Talbot in August at the steelworks… Liverpool in Sep the day after his Labour conference speech… Manchester in October on his NW roots… then this week on a train to Paddington.
The 100 day project has been at attempt to understand who Burnham is, what drives his politics and what he intends to do with power.
Full page spread in tomorrow’s Sunday Times on it all… or read it below first…
thetimes.com/article/8dff059…
Macklemore should be banned from the UK because his concert will raise money for a terror-linked pro-Palestine group: our letter to the Home Secretary telegraph.co.uk/gift/0742835…
Unfortunate ambiguous antecedent here.. of course I mean the Gaza-obsessed unions that are fuelling antisemitism against Jewish pupils may need to be gutted, not the leaders themselves .. 😬
'@LordWalney: "If the leaders of these corrupted (teachers') unions cannot or will not get their house in order, they should be gutted and overhauled as discriminatory agents of anti-Jewish extremism." telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
Lord Walney retweeted
If Salman Rushdie’s fatwa happened today, how many of these signatories would sign a letter supporting him? Most would be too afraid, many would think he deserved it. I doubt Rooney herself would support him.
The comparison is fatuous and disgraceful.
If you ever sought out the novels of Sally Rooney in bookshops – when that was still possible – you’d know they sit in the fiction stacks adjacent to the novels of another SR whose books have been withdrawn in dastardly political circumstances. Until last week, “Rooney” and “Rushdie” had little in common beyond being shelfmates; now they have more than just a physical proximity.
@tanjil_rashid_: This is censorship by other means newstatesman.com/comment/202…
Exactly, they are a disgrace. As is the New Statesman at the moment, I thought it would be so much better than this
Lord Walney retweeted
From public mobilisation to parliamentary action.
On 21 October, Lotus Advocacy and Lord Walney bring the #BanIRGC campaign to the UK Parliament for a roundtable examining stronger legislation, safeguards against the misuse of charities, and greater regulatory and trustee .
Sir Ed Davey facing calls to rule out local council alliances between Liberal Democrats and Greens thejc.com/news/politics/sir-…
Lord Walney retweeted
This is heartbreaking to watch 🥺💔
Mark Allen admits he may never play snooker again. We’re all rooting for you, Mark 🙏❤️
This isn’t leadership. The Lib Dems don’t have any ‘national partnerships’ with the Greens - they have local partnerships. Sir Ed’s words sound strong but don’t change anything
Lord Walney retweeted
Meet Nabil Al Kinani. He’s an Iraqi refugee and the Development Manager on a £2.5 BILLION regeneration of the London Docklands. A landmark project conceived by the @MayorofLondon on public land. I have serious questions about how a Hamas supporter got this job.
Why govt must not buckle to the ‘Palestine Action is harmless protest’ crowd ⬇️
Pro-Palestine activists vandalise homes of defence bosses
thetimes.com/article/d0cc0a1…
Lord Walney retweeted
Grotesque and inverted sense of what’s right.
Good news, right call
NEW: Labour has vowed to end council power-sharing arrangements with the Greens if their local groups fail to condemn the "Zionism is racism" motion.
After Burnham's comments at PMQs yesterday, Labour is now scrambling to put it into practice.
Party chair Bridget Phillipson: "We have asked local Green groups to respond as a matter of urgency. Where they are unable to provide that assurance, Labour will bring any such local arrangement to an end."
Lord Walney retweeted
Why is @OVOArena allowing Macklemore to use its venue to raise cash for an extremist group? Cancel it.
Rapper Macklemore who was axed from Ed Sheeran tour announces new Wembley Arena gig that will benefit 'extremist' group that said Hamas' hostage-taking was 'legitimate' trib.al/18gDJp2
Government finally opens consultation on giving the Charity Commission greater powers to tackle extremism. Much needed - ministers must act firmly and swiftly gov.uk/government/consultati…
Lord Walney retweeted
The Liberal Democrats should end council coalitions with the Green Party, the Government’s former anti-extremism tsar has said.
In a letter to Sir Ed Davey, Lord Walney said the decision by the Green Party to brand Zionism as racism was “deeply disturbing” ⤵️
telegraph.co.uk/politics/202…
All serious parties need to stop working with the Greens after their embrace of anti-Jewish racism - my letter to Sir Ed Davey
telegraph.co.uk/gift/16b7323…
