Ex-Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey charged with rape in UK: police
The Ghanaian international was charged four days after leaving the North London club. The allegations relate to three separate women who reported incidents between 2021 and 2022, according to The Guardian.
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The National
17 hours ago
- The National
UK forced to rethink approach to terrorism 20 years after deadly 7/7 attacks
The 20th anniversary of the July 7, 2005 attacks in London, on Monday, throw a spotlight on how the UK's counter-terrorism approach changed, and how its focus on Islamist groups has deepened social divisions. The bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks by British Islamists on commuters using London's public transport during the morning rush hour. Two decades on, the 52 killed and hundreds wounded are being remembered. Thousands will gather at a dedicated memorial in Hyde Park on Monday and at St Paul's Cathedral to mark an attack that brought a new type of terror to the UK. The attacks sent shockwaves across the country and changed the national security system for thwarting home-grown terrorism feeding off foreign conflicts. Two of the bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, had travelled to Pakistan to train with Al Qaeda before their attack. The pair travelled from Leeds with Hasib Hussain after assembling a bomb in a rented flat. On the way they picked up the fourth bomber, Germaine Lindsay, in Luton and then boarded the transport network. Yassin Oman, from another group whose bombs failed to detonate two weeks later, was found to have ties to the Finsbury Park Mosque, led by the radical preacher Abu Hamza. Today, the threats have evolved, with the UK police foiling Iran -backed terror plots earlier this year, and a growth in far-right extremism. 'Counter-terrorism – almost myopically focused on the threat of Islamist extremism – drove security priorities and decisions for almost 15 years,' said Dr Jessica White, a counter-terrorism expert at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a UK think tank. 'While this was not the first enduring threat of terrorism the UK has faced, there was collective acceptance of counter-terrorism measures becoming a constant daily presence,' she told The National. Impact on British Muslims The attacks also had a profound and long-lasting impact on the British Muslim community, whose mosques and charities were closely scrutinised, and in many cases vilified. A new Netflix documentary about the bombings shows the moment when TV presenter Kate Garraway speaks to a Muslim victim of the attack and asks him to condemn it on behalf of all Muslims. The prejudice persists to this day, with far-right riots singling out mosques as targets as recently as last year. The 7/7 attacks accelerated the Prevent programme, a system under which teachers can flag pupils they consider at risk of radicalisation. Muslim pupils are said to be disproportionately affected by it. Yet some say that the new national security attention on the UK's Muslim communities also gave Islamists a path into government and public institutions, at the expense of mainstream Muslims. This in turn fuels a right-wing backlash that further drives the ostracism of Muslims in the UK. 'We're not much further forward from 7/7,' said former Labour MP Khalid Mahmood. ' We have allowed much greater Islamist growth in the UK,' he told The National. 'We have allowed more people to entrap our young people, especially in the South Asian community, where Arabic is not the first language.' Young South Asians were being told by Islamists that their traditions and customs had Hindu influences and were not true to Islam – causing them to isolate themselves from their communities. Mr Mahmoud blamed the growing influence of the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organisation, on government in the months following the attacks. The MCB has links with more than 450 mosques and Muslim charities, but is accused by critics of promoting extremist forms of political Islam. The organisation played a role in the Muslim Vote, a campaign which sought to undermine Labour at the last general election over their stance on Gaza, and which ultimately caused Mr Mahmood to lose his seat. The UK government stopped engaging with the MCB in 2009 after their leader signed a letter that ministers said condoned attacks on British forces. But in the aftermath of the 2005 attacks, at the invitation of then foreign secretary Jack Straw, they were 'in and out of Downing Street like a postman', Mr Mahmood said. He said he raised concerns about the MCB multiple times at the time, but was ignored. 'People didn't want to challenge this because it was too awkward to challenge,' he said. Terror redefined Debates about expanding terrorism definitions have also come to the fore. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this year that 'terrorism had changed' and the law needed to recognise new threats from 'loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom'. He was speaking about the Southport knife attacker Axel Rudakubana, aged 17 at the time he murdered three young girls in July 2024, who was said to have developed an obsession with killing after watching hours of violent content online. Over the past five years, counter-terrorism forces have begun focusing more on the threat of far-right violence, which is on 'an ideological spectrum including white supremacy, xenophobia, misogyny and more', said Dr White. 'However, this threat presents some different challenges to grapple with, based on biases and inequalities that are foundational in UK society,' she said. 'It is also empowered and amplified in a digital age that allows easy communication of extremist sentiment and transnational connection and combined influence of bad actors,' she added. 'With this, counter-terrorism approaches are faced with an increasingly lower age of offenders and the democratic challenge of defining lines between what is freedom of expression and what may lead to terrorism,' she said. Far-right agitator Tommy Robinson was released from prison last month, causing concern for many in the Muslim community – his principal target. There are fears that growing political polarisation could lead to more radicalisation and eventually, violence. The growing popularity of right-wing populist party Reform, which helped halve Conservative votes in the last general election, is now being met with the formation of a new left-wing party, linked to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and announced by independent MP Zarah Sultana. 'The threat of social and political polarisation seems stronger than ever, which lowers societal resilience to extremism and can in turn lead to radicalisation to violence,' said Dr White. 'This is a key moment to remember 7/7 and to not take our eye off the threat of terrorism,' she added. Policing protests There are also concerns that laws devised to protect the public from terror attacks are now being used elsewhere – in particular to police protests. The UK government has banned the campaign group Palestine Action, who broke into a Royal Air Force base last month, causing millions of pounds worth of damage. Tens of people have been arrested on terror charges in the past two years, since protests in solidarity for Palestine and seeking an end to the war in Gaza became a weekly occurrence. Activists known as the Filton 18, who are accused of occupying an Elbit Systems weapons factory, were denied bail after the Crown Prosecution Service found the action to have a terrorism connection. 'We've seen terrorism legislation used in a much more wide-ranging way,' said criminal defence lawyer Raj Chada, of Hodge Jones and Allen. 'Some of the legislation for encouraging or supporting terrorism was really devised for people like Abu Hamza. Now we're seeing it used for people who attend demonstrations using words that some people will find offensive,' Mr Chada said. 'Twenty years ago that never would have been considered under terrorism laws,' he said. He pointed to comments by Mr Straw, who was home secretary when the first terrorism bill was introduced in 2000, promising that the law would never be used to charge activists such as Greenpeace, who had spray-painted a nuclear warhead production plant at the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment. 'Yet here we are, 20 years on,' Mr Chada said.
UAE Moments
2 days ago
- UAE Moments
UK High Court Refuses Bid to Halt Palestine Action Ban
The UK High Court has declined an urgent request to pause the government's designation of Palestine Action as a proscribed terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. The decision paves the way for the ban to take effect as scheduled, with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper expected to finalise the order imminently and the ban to take effect at midnight. Co-founder Huda Ammori challenged the ban, arguing that Palestine Action's non-violent direct action—such as spraying red paint on military aircraft and disrupting arms companies—should not be criminalised under terrorism legislation. Her legal team said that they will seek an "urgent appeal" to prevent a "dystopian nightmare".
The National
2 days ago
- The National
Palestine Action fails in court bid to stop terrorist ban
Palestine Action failed in a bid to halt its proscription as a terrorist organisation after a legal challenge against the move. Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, brought the legal challenge against the Home Office over Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act 2000. The motion could become law as early as this weekend once it has been signed off by Ms Cooper. Membership or support for the direct action group becomes a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action. Police said it caused around £7 million worth of damage. The group claimed aircraft were involved in supporting Israel in its military action in Gaza via the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus. At a hearing at the High Court in London on Friday, Mr Justice Chamberlain was asked to grant "interim relief" to Ms Ammori, which would have temporarily block the legislation from coming into effect at midnight on Saturday as currently planned. Raza Husain KC, representing Ms Ammori, told the court he move was an 'ill-considered' and an 'authoritarian abuse' of power. Mr Husain said: 'This is the first time in our history that a direct action civil disobedience group, which does not advocate for violence, has been sought to be proscribed as terrorists.' He said Ms Ammori 'was inspired by the long tradition of direct action in this country' and wished to take action 'to prevent harm before it happens'. The group had 'never encouraged harm to any person at all' and that its goal 'is to put ourselves in the way of the military machine'. But Mr Justice Chamberlain asked him: 'What was the point of that if not to influence the UK Government?' The judge added that the action 'was designed to influence the British Government, to stop doing what the claimant thinks they're doing from Akrotiri'. He said that an assessment on whether to ban Palestine Action under terrorist laws had been made as early as March, and 'preceded' the incident at RAF Brize Norton. Ben Watson KC, for the Home Office, told the High Court that Palestine Action could challenge the Home Secretary's decision at the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission, a specialist tribunal, rather than at the High Court. 'The serious issue to be tried is met in full by the adequate alternative remedy that Parliament has provided," he said. Four people - Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 - have all been charged in connection with the incident. They appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977. They were remanded into custody and will appear at the Old Bailey on July 18. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said on Wednesday that a 41-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender had been released on bail until September 19, and a 23-year-old man who was arrested has been released without charge.
