A fresh row has broken out after a government adviser suggested calls to criminalise street harassment are being blocked.
Nimco Ali, the independent adviser on tackling violence against women and girls, suggested the plan was facing “pushback” from parts of government.
In an interview on the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson, Ali appeared to hint that the prime minister had not fully supported the proposal.
Ali, who was appointed by Home Secretary Priti Patel in 2020, is pushing for street harassment such as wolf-whistling and catcalling to be made a crime, with on-the-spot fines for offenders.
She said Patel was “very much behind” the campaign but “then you meet other people saying no”.
“It’s been frustrating and it’s been disappointing,” Ali said.
When asked if the pushback had come from the prime minister’s advisers, Ali replied that the source was “a lot closer than that” but that people would be able to interpret “my silence”.
However, No.10 insisted that tackling violence against women was a top priority.
Meanwhile, Ali and Robinson ended up in a Twitter spat after the interview was aired.
Ali, who is best friends with Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie, tweeted about Robinson: “I am [the] Home Secretary’s independent advisor as I corrected you on the podcast and I did not blame him for this.
“Honestly I talked about almost dying from FGM and wanting a better world for girls and this is what you go with.”
Robinson replied saying she was fascinating on her campaigns against FGM and violence against women and girls, but added: “You also volunteered your frustration that a new law on street harassment which you and Priti Patel backed had been blocked. I asked who blocked it...
“I asked whether it was No.10 political advisers who blocked it. You said ‘it’s a lot closer than that’.
“I asked whether you meant the PM. You said ‘you can take from my silence as you like’.”
Last July the government announced a crackdown on sexual harassment, after a public consultation following the murder of Sarah Everard.
As part of the crackdown, the government said it would not rule out creating new laws over street harassment, saying: “We are looking carefully at where there may be gaps in existing law and how a specific offence for public sexual harassment could address those.”
At the time, Patel said: “The safety of women and girls across the country, wherever they are, is an absolute priority for me.
“It is unacceptable that women and girls are still subject to harassment, abuse, and violence, and I do not accept that violence against women and girls is inevitable.”
The government also said it would not rule out creating new laws over street harassment, saying: “We are looking carefully at where there may be gaps in existing law and how a specific offence for public sexual harassment could address those.”
On Friday, Downing Street suggested it had not ruled out introducing a criminal offence of street harassment.
A No.10 spokesman said: “I would point to a tweet from Nimco this morning where she addresses that and says I did not blame him, referring to the prime minister.”
Pressed whether an offence of street harassment is still being considered, he said: “We will continue to look at where there may be gaps and how a specific offence could address those.
“I’m not going to get into specifics but as I say this remains a top priority for this government.”
He said he was “not aware” of any conversations between Ali and No.10 before she posted the tweet, but stressed that Ali said she did not blame the prime minister.
Asked who then she was blaming, he said: “I can’t speculate or speak on her behalf.”