A KNEECAP Law is urgently needed to stop groups who pose a threat to British values receiving public funding, a senior peer has said.
The call comes from No10’s former adviser on political violence John Woodcock, before he moves to secure the legislation this month.
GettyKneecap perform at Glastonbury festival last summer[/caption]
Piranha 2023Lord Walney said: ‘If we are going to defeat the extremism infecting our communities, we have to stop dishing out grants to people who hate our country’[/caption]
He says extremism will continue to “infect our communities” unless tougher action is taken.
It comes after a court last year overruled the Government so Belfast rap trio Kneecap, known for their inflammatory, dissident views, were allowed to keep a £14,250 grant.
The Tory government had originally blocked funding from the Music Export Growth Scheme, which awards cash to promote British artists overseas, saying money should not be given to “people that oppose the United Kingdom itself”.
Mr Woodcock — known as Lord Walney — said: “If we are going to defeat the extremism infecting our communities, we have to stop dishing out grants to people who hate our country.
“The government should learn from the recent Kneecap fiasco and bar public bodies from funding organisations that promote extremism or undermine the territorial integrity of the UK or its liberal democracy.”
He will put down amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill in the Lords later this month.
It will aim to protect taxpayers’ cash being doled out to divisive and militant groups.
The amendments would need to gain the support of peers and MPs to become legislation.
This week’s synagogue terror attack in Manchester has sparked fresh calls for a harder line in tackling extremism.
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