Bid to temporarily block Palestine Action ban to be heard at High Court
The motion could become law as early as this weekend once it has been signed off by Ms Cooper, which would make membership of, or support for, the direct action group 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, which police said caused around £7 million worth of damage.
At a hearing on Friday, Mr Justice Chamberlain is due to decide whether to grant 'interim relief' to Ms Ammori, which would temporarily block the legislation from coming into effect at midnight on Saturday as currently planned.
The hearing is due to begin at 10.30am at the Royal Courts of Justice, with a further hearing to decide whether Ms Ammori will be given the green light to challenge the Government's decision expected to be held later in July.
Ms Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was 'disgraceful' and that the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday.
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.
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The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Palestine Action isn't a danger to British democracy – but this repressive government is
No one can be trusted with power. Any government will oppress its people if not constantly and inventively challenged. And the task becomes ever-more urgent as new technologies of surveillance and control are developed. The UK government is run by a former human rights lawyer. Its home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has expressed her admiration for the Suffragettes in parliament. Yet such credentials do nothing to defend us from attacks on our fundamental rights. With a huge majority, no formal constitutional checks and a ruthless, scarcely accountable governing machine, this administration is abusing its power to an even greater extent than its Conservative predecessors. Though there is tough competition, Cooper's proscription of the protest group Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 is probably the most illiberal thing any home secretary has done in 30 years. If Palestine Action's legal challenge to the order fails, you could receive 14 years in jail as a terrorist merely for expressing support. It's a massive threat to the right to protest and to free speech. In 2001, as the act came into force, I warned that it could be used to ban nonviolent protest groups and imprison those who support them. Supporters of Tony Blair's government told me I was talking rubbish: its purpose was to keep us safe from people who wanted to kill and maim us. At the time, Cooper was a junior minister. She must have known what the act could do. Now she vindicates the warning. Like the drafting of the Tory anti-protest laws, this application of the act appears to be a response to lobbyists. The junktanks of Tufton Street, in concert with the billionaire media, have called for ever-more extreme measures for protesters demonstrating against the genocide in Gaza. The government seems to have been sharing the contact details of police and crown prosecutors with the Israeli embassy: there appears to be deep entanglement between domestic law enforcement and the interests of a foreign state. In response to lobbying, the UK has become arguably the most repressive of all nominal democracies. Both in legislation and application, it looks more like a repressive autocracy. You can see this not only in the extreme sentences for peaceful protest but also in the extraordinary double standards deployed – a classic sign of the authoritarian mindset: 'for my friends everything, for my enemies the law'. While climate protesters are arrested for setting foot in the road, even when a group of farmers in tractors blocked the road where Keir Starmer was giving a speech, forcing him to flee, not only were no arrests made but, as far as I can discover, no minister said a word about it. Far from repealing the draconian anti-protest laws imposed by the Tories, Labour is augmenting them with a clause (section 124) slipped into the current crime and policing bill. Scarcely noticed by either legislators or the public, it greatly increases police powers to stifle protest. The police will be able to ban demonstrations close to a place of worship that they decide could be intimidating to worshippers. As almost every urban area contains a place of worship, this empowers the police, using only their own discretion, to shut down any expression of dissent. Palestine Action is not a danger to democracy. But Cooper is. I have no doubt that, were they active today, the home secretary would proscribe as a terrorist organisation the Suffragettes she claims to honour. One of the causes of the global democratic recession is the escalating inequality of arms between governments and their people. At the time of the French Revolution, governments feared the people, as the distance between pikes and pitchforks was not so great. But as states developed ever-more sophisticated weapons, their powers could no longer be matched by those they sought to crush. In combination with facial recognition technology, now being widely deployed in the UK among many other nations, autonomous weapons systems, for both military and civil use, would greatly increase the distance between state and citizen power. This is the future we appear to be rushing towards, with scarcely any democratic debate. All over the world, autonomous weapons systems are in development, largely for use in warfare. Ukraine and Russia are in the midst of a robot arms race, accelerating at shocking speed. In Gaza, Israel has automated its target selection, with horrifying results. As security sources explained to +972 magazine in April 2024, Israel's Lavender AI program had marked about 37,000 Palestinians as suspected 'Hamas militants', selecting them as potential targets for assassination. A further program, with the sinister name of Where's Daddy?, was tracking them to their homes so that they could be bombed at night, often killing not only their families but many other people in the same block. 'Once you go automatic,' one of the sources told the journal, 'target generation goes crazy.' Almost everyone in Gaza had been given a Lavender rating of between 1 and 100. As soon as the number in the AI system was high enough, the name would be added to the kill list. That would be treated as a military order, even though the operators knew that at least 10% of the targets were misidentified. Anyone who imagines that such systems would not be embraced by governments for use against their citizens is deceiving themselves. As autonomous target selection aligns with the autonomous delivery of munitions, which could range from teargas to rubber bullets to metal bullets, governments will acquire terrifying new powers to contain dissent. Real robocops are likely to have propellers, not legs. As the Stop Killer Robots campaign points out, such machines dehumanise us: we become a set of data points, to be interpreted by an algorithm. Once an autonomous weapons system has been programmed, oppressive regimes can absolve themselves of responsibility for what it does. AI reinforces prejudice and discrimination: the way it develops ensures that Black and brown people and other minorities targeted by the police will be disproportionately selected. Once such systems are in place, they will be very hard to dismantle. When you create a market you create a lobby, and the lobby will insist on retaining and expanding its investments. Autonomous weapons systems, for both military and civilian use, should be prohibited under international law before they progress any further. Technologies of control are ramping up while democratic rights are ramping down. We drift towards extreme political repression, driven by the demands of capital and foreign states, accelerated by automation. This is why we must protest – now, while we still can. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist On Tuesday 16 September, join George Monbiot, Mikaela Loach and other special guests discussing the forces driving climate denialism, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
PM's Europe ‘reset' has delivered change in French tactics on small boats: No 10
Number 10 said reports French police officers had used knives to puncture a boat in waters off the French coast for the first time were a 'significant moment' that could have 'a major impact' on smuggling gangs. A spokesman said: 'We welcome action from French law enforcement to take action in shallow waters, and what you have seen in recent weeks is a toughening of their approach.' The Government has repeatedly pushed for French authorities to do more to prevent boats leaving the shore, including changing existing rules to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water. Those changes have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken. French rules have previously prevented police officers from intervening when people attempt to board small boats in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA) Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she welcomed the reports, adding she had been 'working very closely with the French interior minister' to ensure the rules were changed 'as swiftly as possible'. Downing Street attributed the change in stance from French law enforcement was thanks to the Prime Minister's 'reset' in relations with Europe, as he has looked to heal the wounds caused by the Brexit years. The spokesman said: 'No government has been able to get this level of co-operation with the French. That is important. 'We are looking to see France change its maritime tactics, and that is down to the Prime Minister's efforts to reset our relationship across Europe.' But a charity operating in northern France told the PA news agency that French police had already been intervening in crossing attempts in shallow waters despite the new rules not yet being in place. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she had been working closely with her French counterpart, Bruno Retailleau, to change French rules 'as swiftly as possible' (Henry Nicholls/PA) Kate O'Neill, advocacy coordinator at Project Play, said: 'This is not a new tactic … it's something that has been happening for a long time in Calais and surrounding areas.' She also warned it was a 'dangerous' tactic as children were 'often in the middle of the boats'. In its manifesto last year, Labour promised to 'smash the gangs' smuggling people across the Channel in small boats. But a year into Sir Keir's premiership, the number of people making the journey has increased to record levels. Some 20,600 people have made the journey so far this year, up 52% on the same period in 2024. Downing Street acknowledged that the numbers 'must come down', but could not guarantee that they would in the next year. On Friday, Ms Cooper said part of the reason for the increase in crossings was a rise in the number of people being crammed onto each boat. She suggested that all migrants who arrive on an overcrowded boat where a child has died should face prosecution. Ms Cooper told the BBC's Today programme it was 'totally appalling' that children were being 'crushed to death on these overcrowded boats, and yet the boat still continues to the UK'. Mr Macron is to visit the UK (Suzanne Plunkett/PA) The Government has already included a new offence of 'endangering life at sea' in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently making its way through Parliament. Ms Cooper has previously said this would allow the authorities to act against people 'involved in behaviour that puts others at risk of serious injury or death, such as physical aggression, intimidation, or rejecting rescue attempts'. But on Friday, she appeared to go further by suggesting even getting on an overcrowded boat could result in prosecution. She said: 'If you've got a boat where we've seen all of those people all climb on board that boat, they are putting everybody else's lives at risk.' Some 15 children are reported to have died while attempting the crossing in 2024, and Ms O'Neill told PA police tactics were making the situation more dangerous. During a series of broadcast interviews, Ms Cooper also declined to confirm reports the UK was looking at a 'one in, one out' policy that would see people who had crossed the Channel returned to Europe in exchange for asylum seekers with connections to Britain. Asked about the policy, she would only tell Sky News that ministers were 'looking at a range of different issues' and 'different ways of doing returns'. Sir Keir is expected to hold a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, at which efforts to tackle small boat crossings are likely to be high on the agenda.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
PM's Europe ‘reset' has delivered change in French tactics on small boats: No 10
Number 10 said reports French police officers had used knives to puncture a boat in waters off the French coast for the first time were a 'significant moment' that could have 'a major impact' on smuggling gangs. A spokesman said: 'We welcome action from French law enforcement to take action in shallow waters, and what you have seen in recent weeks is a toughening of their approach.' The Government has repeatedly pushed for French authorities to do more to prevent boats leaving the shore, including changing existing rules to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water. Those changes have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she welcomed the reports, adding she had been 'working very closely with the French interior minister' to ensure the rules were changed 'as swiftly as possible'. Downing Street attributed the change in stance from French law enforcement was thanks to the Prime Minister's 'reset' in relations with Europe, as he has looked to heal the wounds caused by the Brexit years. The spokesman said: 'No government has been able to get this level of co-operation with the French. That is important. 'We are looking to see France change its maritime tactics, and that is down to the Prime Minister's efforts to reset our relationship across Europe.' But a charity operating in northern France told the PA news agency that French police had already been intervening in crossing attempts in shallow waters despite the new rules not yet being in place. Kate O'Neill, advocacy coordinator at Project Play, said: 'This is not a new tactic … it's something that has been happening for a long time in Calais and surrounding areas.' She also warned it was a 'dangerous' tactic as children were 'often in the middle of the boats'. In its manifesto last year, Labour promised to 'smash the gangs' smuggling people across the Channel in small boats. But a year into Sir Keir's premiership, the number of people making the journey has increased to record levels. Some 20,600 people have made the journey so far this year, up 52% on the same period in 2024. Downing Street acknowledged that the numbers 'must come down', but could not guarantee that they would in the next year. On Friday, Ms Cooper said part of the reason for the increase in crossings was a rise in the number of people being crammed onto each boat. She suggested that all migrants who arrive on an overcrowded boat where a child has died should face prosecution. Ms Cooper told the BBC's Today programme it was 'totally appalling' that children were being 'crushed to death on these overcrowded boats, and yet the boat still continues to the UK'. The Government has already included a new offence of 'endangering life at sea' in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently making its way through Parliament. Ms Cooper has previously said this would allow the authorities to act against people 'involved in behaviour that puts others at risk of serious injury or death, such as physical aggression, intimidation, or rejecting rescue attempts'. But on Friday, she appeared to go further by suggesting even getting on an overcrowded boat could result in prosecution. She said: 'If you've got a boat where we've seen all of those people all climb on board that boat, they are putting everybody else's lives at risk.' Some 15 children are reported to have died while attempting the crossing in 2024, and Ms O'Neill told PA police tactics were making the situation more dangerous. During a series of broadcast interviews, Ms Cooper also declined to confirm reports the UK was looking at a 'one in, one out' policy that would see people who had crossed the Channel returned to Europe in exchange for asylum seekers with connections to Britain. Asked about the policy, she would only tell Sky News that ministers were 'looking at a range of different issues' and 'different ways of doing returns'. Sir Keir is expected to hold a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, at which efforts to tackle small boat crossings are likely to be high on the agenda.
