Overview
- On Tuesday Lord Walney (John Woodcock) wrote in The Times that the government should ban Bash Back as a terrorist organisation, citing the group’s imagery and its claimed actions.
- Bash Back rejected the proscription call on its Blue Sky account, saying it is a non-violent direct-action group and denying it condones physical harm.
- Journalists and organisations have reported that Bash Back’s material urges local cells, shows hammer imagery and has claimed responsibility for vandalising Wes Streeting’s office, hacking the Free Speech Union, attacking the EHRC and disrupting a women’s conference.
- The government issued a standard statement promising that unlawful intimidation will face the full force of the law while commentators such as GB News argue proscription risks politicising counter-extremism and that existing criminal laws should be enforced consistently.
- Investigations and court proceedings connected to recent violent incidents are developing and the debate over proscription raises practical and civil-rights questions about policing priorities, prosecutorial choices and the risk of using a heavy legal tool for politically sensitive protests.