The weaponisation of identity politics in Western nations threatens freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas in liberal societies, one expert has declared. In The Threat of Identity Politics, published by Sydney-based thinktank Centre of Independent Studies, author Simon Heffer said political activists such as the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement used the global outrage over the death of George Floyd for objectives that go beyond racial equality. “Such consequences were desired by some for whom Floyd’s killing could be used to further a political agenda broader than that of equality and justice irrespective of race,” he wrote. Heffer, who is also a modern British history professor at the University of Buckingham, said the tidal wave of identity politics it brought forward has led to “rancour, division, and distrust” across Western nations. He argues that identity politics could make normally rational people, who consider themselves part of an oppressor group, …