Robin Simcox
Simcox at a U.S. Institute of Peace panel
Commissioner for Countering Extremism
Assumed office
July 2022
Appointed byPriti Patel
Preceded byHimself
Interim Commissioner for Countering Extremism
In office
March 2021 – July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySara Khan
Succeeded byHimself
Personal details
Alma mater

Robin Simcox is a politician and researcher who is the current Commissioner for Countering Extremism (CCE) at the United Kingdom Home Office.

Education

Simcox graduated from the University of Leeds with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international history, and from the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London with a Master of Science degree in US foreign policy.[1]

Career

In 2009, Simcox worked as a research fellow at the conservative Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) think tank,[2] at which he wrote a report on the Middle Eastern, Asian and Russian donors of UK universities,[3] and later at the Henry Jackson Society when the CSC was subsumed into it in 2011. That year, he wrote in The Weekly Standard that while David Cameron's policies were neoconservative, the prime minister was "at pains not to be tarred with the neoconservative brush", as well as that neoconservatives' opponents had "hijacked the term" and that it should be taken back.[4]

He joined The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom in January 2016 and became a Margaret Thatcher Fellow, specialising in counterterrorism.[5][6] In a 2016 article, Simcox rejected the term “violent extremism” and argued that it was “dreamed up as a way to avoid saying ‘Islamic’ or ‘Islamist’ extremism in the months after the July 2005 suicide bombings in London”.[7] In a tweet in June 2019, he defended YouTuber Mark Meechan, also known as Count Dankula, who was convicted over a video showing a dog performing Nazi salutes.[6] In another September 2019 article, he called for prime minister Boris Johnson to "push back on 'Islamophobia'" as a term used by the left, and to be "wary" of an internal review of the Conservative Party, while also stating that Extinction Rebellion, Unite Against Fascism and the far left “need monitoring”. He left the Heritage Foundation to found the Counter Extremism Group in July 2020.[6]

Commissioner for Countering Extremism

In March 2021, home secretary Priti Patel appointed Simcox as commissioner of the Commission for Countering Extremism in an interim capacity, replacing Sara Khan.[5][6][8] Patel officially appointed Simcox as commissioner in July 2022 for a three-year term.[5][1] In 2019, he had stated that the UK's official definition of a hate crime was "far too broad" in response to a report by the CCE.[6] He organised a Countering Extremism conference on 1 March 2023, at which home secretary Suella Braverman made a speech on political correctness.[9] In August 2023, The Independent noted that since his appointment, the CCE had "published no new research or scrutiny of government policy."[10]

In October 2023, following the beginning of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Simcox argued in The Times that the UK was a "permissive environment" for antisemitism, and that the country was bearing the cost of a "three-decade long failed policy mix of mass migration and multiculturalism". Tom Tugendhat, the Minister of State for Security, denied this and argued that threats to all communities were taken "extremely seriously".[5][11] He conducted his first broadcast interview on 18 October on Newsnight with Mark Urban.[12] On 19 October, Simcox called for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute think tank, his first as CCE Commissioner.[13][14][11] In the same speech, he argued that the pro-Palestinian “from the river to the sea" chant should be seen as “genocidal in nature” and that environmental groups would "become increasingly militant and that acts of violence will be the logical end." The speech was criticised by anti-racism advocacy group Hope Not Hate, which argued that "he omits the danger of rising anti-Muslim hate and plays down the very real threat of the far right."[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Robin Simcox". GOV.UK. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Newman, Melanie (9 April 2009). "Institutions attack claims that Saudi and Chinese donors direct policy". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  3. ↑ Lipsett, Anthea (6 April 2009). "Philanthropy or propaganda?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Dixon, Paul (1 June 2012). "Was the IRA Defeated? Neo-Conservative Propaganda as History". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 40 (2): 303–320. doi:10.1080/03086534.2012.697618. ISSN 0308-6534.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Geiger, Chas (19 October 2023). "UK permits antisemitism, says counter-extremism adviser". BBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Dearden, Lizzie (12 May 2021). "New extremism chief appointed by Priti Patel dismissed 'Islamophobia' and 'violent extremism'". The Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Dearden, Lizzie (20 August 2023). "£1m counterextremism funding returned to Home Office despite rising terror threat". The Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Dearden, Lizzie (25 August 2022). "'Vital' appointment of new Victims Commissioner delayed by government". The Independent. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Political correctness 'has created blind spot for Islamist extremists'". The Independent. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Dearden, Lizzie (20 August 2023). "£1m counterextremism funding returned to Home Office despite rising terror threat". The Independent. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  11. 1 2 Hymas, Charles (19 October 2023). "Iran's Revolutionary Guard should be proscribed as terror group, says extremism tzar". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Childs, Simon (3 November 2023). "Who Is the Tory Counter-Extremism 'Expert' Labelling Pro-Palestine Protests 'Antisemitic'?". Novara Media. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Hughes, Laura (19 October 2023). "UK anti-extremism tsar calls for Iran's Revolutionary Guards to be listed as terrorists". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Hymas, Charles (19 October 2023). "Iran's Revolutionary Guard should be proscribed as terror group, says extremism tzar". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  15. ↑ Syal, Rajeev (19 October 2023). "No 10 and security minister say UK is not 'permissive' about antisemitism". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
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