I am deeply concerned by the government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation. This decision dangerously conflates direct action tactics aimed at disrupting an ongoing genocide with violent acts of terror aimed at causing loss of life. In doing so, it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent for freedom of speech and assembly that runs entirely counter to the UK’s strong tradition of protest and dissent.
I acted as a teller for the ‘Noes’ on the 2nd July 2025, facilitating the vote. My name appears just above other colleagues who voted ‘No’ on Parliament’s website.
We must keep the issue being protested at the forefront of this discussion. In Gaza, we are witnessing a genocide. We now know that the 56,000 Palestinians reported killed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health is a conservative estimate. There has been a devastating blockade of food, fuel, and water. We are seeing Palestinians bombed to death in their own home and shot dead at so-called aid points by the IDF on a daily basis. Hospitals, homes and schools in the area have been flattened.
This proscription of Palestine Action suggests that ministers are more preoccupied with activists causing property damage than the utter destruction of human life we are witnessing in Gaza. It is a kneejerk reaction to an embarrassing security breach for the government, which debases the definition of terrorism, undermines the purpose of proscription and wastes resources which should be used to go after actual terrorists.
The process the government is using to steamroller this change through should also raise alarm bells. MPs had just two days to reflect on the statutory instrument, first laid before the House on Monday the 30th of June. We had just only 90 minutes to debate the merits of proscription for Palestine Action. Because of the brevity of the debate, I was not even able to express the overwhelming opposition that people in Clapham & Brixton Hill had shared with me ahead of the vote. This is a completely insufficient timeframe for consideration, with minimal scrutiny, consultation and thought.
The statutory instrument deliberately conflates Palestine Action with two violent Neo-Nazi organisations: the Moldovan ‘Maniacs Murder Cult’, and the ‘Russian Imperial Movement’. Effectively, MPs are being asked to vote in favour of the motion (proscribing all three groups) or vote against it (proscribing none). I have no problem with proscribing violent Neo-Nazi death cults, which is what proscription is designed for. Unfortunately, the government’s shameful conflation of Palestine Action with these movements left me with no choice but to oppose the motion altogether.
In the early 2000s, our Prime Minister was on the right side of history as part of the defence team that defended the Fairford Five, anti-war activists who broke into RAF Fairford to stop US bombers heading to Iraq. He correctly defended their actions on the basis that they were proportionate and necessary to prevent the commission of war crimes. This is a crucial legal principle that offers people some protection when they take necessary and proportionate action to prevent ongoing harm. There are other pieces of legislation that deal with instances of property damage.
Under the last government, we witnessed a steady degradation of our democratic rights as the Tories sought to counter the successes of environmental and anti-racist protest movements whose aims and ideas they fundamentally disagreed with. Legislation like the Public Order Act and the Policing Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act took aim at the tactics of Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter and anti-genocide protesters. It reframed courageous struggles for a greener, more equal and peaceful future as an issue of public nuisance, danger and disruption. In doing so, it made it harder for all of us to raise our voices on other issues. It is deeply disappointing to see the government veering off down the same reactionary road, whilst we still do not even have a full arms embargo, let alone sanctions on a foreign power that is committing a genocide.
From the Abolitionists to the Chartists and the Suffragettes, our country’s rich tradition of dissent has paved the way for the rights and freedoms we all enjoy today. These groups were vilified as terrorists in their own time and vindicated by history. The government should take note.
