A right wing think tank that commissioned a report labelling environmental activists as “extremists” who want to “break up democracy” has failed to reveal who funded the research.
The think tank Policy Exchange, which has long refused to reveal its financial backers, commissioned retired terrorism police officer Richard Walton to write the headline-grabbing report. Walton was previously best known for his controversial role in police spying on the family of murdered schoolboy Stephen Lawrence. Speaking about the report on the 'Today' programme yesterday morning, Walton described Extinction Rebellion as a “hardcore anarchist group which want to break up our democracy”.
The report also speculated about the environmental group using violent tactics to further their aims in the future. Extinction Rebellion has used entirely non-violent protests to shut down city centres to draw attention to climate change and species loss.
