Amnesty UK and Liberty joined the judicial review challenging Keir Starmer’s Labour Government’s nonsense proscription of Palestine Action, which would designate a nonviolent protest group populated by a mix of British citizens — such as a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, a blind man in a wheelchair, and several hundred people with more in common with your gran — as being exactly the same as Al Qaeda.

The arrest of peaceful protestors is a violation of the UK’s international obligations to protect the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. This can’t go unchallenged." — Amnesty UK

It was a silly, reactionary decision by this government, embarrassed by the fact that a small, informal group of activists were able to casually ride some e-scooters onto an air base with seemingly no security and daub a bit of paint on some planes. But it’s what happens when we have a prime minister who takes his marching orders from Trump’s White House.

This is essentially a question over whether UK has all the facets needed for a participatory liberal democracy or not. Supporting Palestinian liberation is how you test the health of your own liberty, it seems. If this Labour government fails to uphold the designation, then it’s a calamitous embarrassment for Keir. If it’s able to win, then Labour will have damaged to the country. Take your pick.

We are all Palestine Action