Andy Burnham urged to proscribe militant trans group 'on par with Palestine Action'

Andy Burnham has been urged to proscribe a militant transgender group "on par with Palestine Action".

In the past, Back Bash has pushed supporters to target groups, MPs and organisations it deems to be "transphobic".

The "activist" group's campaign literature urges followers to "cause direct harm" in a bid to set out a "new era of trans rage".

Lord Walney, a former Government adviser on political violence, has warned the group "deserves far more serious attention than it has so far received".

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He added that Bash Back should be assessed by the same baseline as Palestine Action, a group which was proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 after the Court of Appeal backed the ban this month.

As a result, so-called "activists" would be treated as terror suspects.

"On the evidence already in the public domain, there is a serious case to answer," Lord Walney told The Times.

Its activists are told to establish "independent local cells", "identify a target" and "ensure your target can be hit repeatedly until they desist" from what the group considers "transphobic" activities.

Last year, the group vandalised Wes Streeting's constituency office. Pro-trans campaigners spray-painted "child killer" on the office as they lamented over the "continued abuse of trans people in the medical system".

Bash Back brazenly admitted its tactics would be "rarely legal" and has warned participants they risk facing charges such as criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon and aggravated trespass.

Describing itself as a "nonviolent direct action group", its campaign material includes an equipment list which contains items like hammers.

Instructions to clean tools using alcohol or discard them in "unsurveilled residential bins" after use are also included.

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Members are even advised to communicate via encrypted platforms like Signal with disappearing messages switched on.

A promotional image accompanying the document displays the slogan "smash transphobia" with a masked figure wielding a hammer and the words "choose your weapon".

Bash Back has also claimed responsibility for attacks on several high-profile targets, including prison contractor Sodexo and the Free Speech Union.

The group insisted these actions showed solidarity with "Prisoners for Palestine".

Lord Walney has made the public intervention on the controversial group after it was revealed that the murdered Tory MP Ann Widdecombe was hit 21 times with a hammer in her Devon home earlier this month in a "targeted" attack.

A 28-year-old man, Joshua Kerry, was charged with the killing while MPs have sounded the alarm over security for figures in public life.

Just three months before the attack, MPs were told to create safe houses within their homes where they could take shelter if their home was targeted by "hostile actors".

The National Protective Security Authority, which is an offshoot of MI5, suggested that high-risk individuals, including MPs, local councillors and foreign dissidents, should create the space, fully-equipped with fog machines and bulletproof walls.

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