Former Coronation Street actress and social media influencer has ended her collaboration with the Home Office after the Government designated pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action a terrorist organisation.
Nicola Thorp, 36, who has been a vocal advocate for women’s safety since surviving a horrific stalking ordeal, said she could no longer ‘essentially promote and do PR for’ the department.
She went on to accuse it of being ‘complicit in the most abhorrent acts of violence against women and little girls in Gaza’.
The actress-turned-activist had previously worked with the Home Office to promote its strategy to combat violence against women and girls.
But in a strongly worded Instagram post, she revealed she had turned down a recent request to help publicise the initiative, which is being led by Labour MP Jess Phillips, now serving as a minister in the department.
‘This request came shortly after Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, had announced that she would be proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation,’ Ms Thorp explained.
‘And it really got me thinking about how I feel about this particular Government.’
The outspoken TV star, who played Nicola Rubinstein in the long-running ITV soap, added that while she supports domestic policies aimed at protecting women and girls, she could not in good conscience work with a Government she claims is ‘an ally to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]’ and continues to supply ‘arms licences to Israel’.
‘While I obviously support domestic efforts and policies put in place to reduce violence against women and girls in the UK, their continued supply of arms licences to Israel along with their position as an ally to the IDF is wildly hypocritical,’ she said.
Ms Thorp, who made headlines last year as a campaigner for the new ‘right to know’ anti-stalking policy after her own stalker was jailed, said all her previous work with the Home Office had been done on a voluntary basis.
Her stalker, schizophrenic Ravinderjit Dhillon, was sentenced to 30 months in jail at Snaresbrook Crown Court in December 2023 after a disturbing two-year campaign of harassment in which he used 27 different online aliases to send her terrifying threats.
Including one chilling message that read: ‘I’m your Grim Reaper. I’m never going to leave you.’
The traumatised actress has since dedicated much of her platform to women’s safety but she has increasingly used it to criticise the Government’s stance on Gaza and the policing of pro-Palestinian protests in the UK.
Sharing a video of an armed officer confronting a man holding a Palestinian flag, Ms Thorp wrote: ‘This is Yvette Cooper’s Britain.’
She called the scene ‘unbelievable’ and added: ‘Where are all the free speech advocates now?’
Ms Thorp has also refused an invitation to speak at the Labour Party conference this September on a panel about violence against women and girls hosted by the NSPCC.
In her response, she said: ‘I have ceased my work with the current Labour Government and will no longer be promoting any of the work they’re doing to tackle violence against women and girls.’
In the wake of her comments, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp launched a blistering attack on the former soap star, accusing her of ‘virtue signalling’ and defending the Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action.
‘Palestine Action is a violent group who want to achieve their political aims through coercion and criminal damage,’ Mr Philp said.
‘They have sabotaged an RAF aircraft, which our country relies on to defend us, they have smashed up property and they have even attacked a police officer with a sledgehammer. This is all totally unacceptable.
‘In this country, we decide issues by debate and elections – not violence and intimidation. Palestine Action’s methods should be condemned by anyone who believes in democracy and a peaceful political process. This influencer needs to stop virtue-signalling on Instagram and call out Palestine Action’s violent tactics.’
The Home Office has declined to comment.
In recent years, the Government has increasingly turned to influencers – both paid and unpaid – to promote key policies to younger audiences on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
In 2020, Love Island stars were reportedly paid to promote the NHS Test and Trace scheme.