BORIS EYES CURBS AS RADICALS GET SET FOR SUMMER OF CHAOS

BORIS Johnson wants a crackdown on political extremists who bring chaos to city streets by using mass disruption tactics.

The Prime Minister is soon to receive a report from LordWalney – the ex-Labour MP John Woodcock, who quit his party in disgust at Jeremy Corbyn’s hard-Left leadership – addressing the issue of hardliners hijacking protest groups.

In an interview this week, the non-affiliated peer said his review would address “unacceptable disruption or even violence carried out in the name of progressive causes”.

Sources say he is particularly studying public attitudes to the way some protest groups have caused mass disruption to businesses, commuters and others going about their daily lives.

Examples include the Black Lives Matter movement blockading Heathrow Airport and Extinction Rebellion attempting to shut down roads in London and other cities.

LordWalney is understood to be focused on the way extremist infiltrators in popular campaigns press for mass confrontation tactics to further revolutionary causes.

Police chiefs are understood to be concerned about a fresh surge in mass protests when Covid lockdown measures are eased later this year.

They fear pent-up frustrations could erupt into disorder and violence at demonstrations.

Officers want clearer guidance about where the line should be drawn between the right to peaceful protest and the rights of the public to go about their businesses.

The issue is close to the Prime Minister’s heart. He hit out at “uncooperative crusties” filling London’s streets with “hemp-smelling bivouacs” after one particularly disruptive spate of Extinction Rebellion protests.

Even mainstream supporters of anti-racist and climate change campaigns are getting fed up with hardliners damaging their cause.

Finding the right balance is always tricky on protest rights – but the Prime Minister may find he has to address the problem sooner rather than later as the country unlocks for the summer.