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The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Palestine Action has committed ‘violence' and ‘significant injury', No 10 says
Palestine Action is 'violent' and has committed 'significant injury' as well as criminal damage, Downing Street has said after hundreds of arrests were made at a protest linked to the group. No 10 defended the move to ban the organisation under counter-terror laws, saying evidence and security assessments shared in closed court supported its proscription. Scotland Yard has said some 522 people were held over the weekend for displaying an item in support of a proscribed group, out of the total 532 arrests made during the policing operation at a march in central London. Asked on Monday whether the Government was reconsidering its decision to designate the group as a terrorist organisation following mass arrests on Saturday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No. Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed involving violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage.' Downing Street said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – an independent authority based within MI5 – had found the organisation had carried out three separate acts of terrorism. The Government is unable to provide 'all of the detail at this stage' but the proscription has been made through a 'robust, evidence-based process', it said. 'We've said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage,' Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said. Speaking to broadcasters earlier on Monday, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said supporters of the group would face 'the full force of the law'. 'We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons, which we can't disclose because of national security,' she told BBC Breakfast. Meanwhile, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command will be working over the coming weeks to put together case files in relation to arrests made at a protest in London in Saturday, the force has said. The demonstration was held in Parliament Square on Saturday, organised by Defend Our Juries, with the Metropolitan Police warning it would detain anyone expressing support for Palestine Action. The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over, according to a breakdown published by the Met on Sunday. Detained protesters were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area. Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date. There were a further 10 arrests, six for assaults on officers, two for breaching Public Order Act conditions, one arrest for obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence, the force said.
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Tulisa claims a police officer mimed oral sex gestures at her when she was on trial for drug sting: 'It felt like I was up there for everyone's entertainment'
Tulisa Contostavlos has claimed a police officer made obscene gestures towards her while she was on trial for a drugs sting. In 2013, the singer was charged with being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, with her trial being held the following year at Southwark Crown Court. Detailing the ordeal in her upcoming book, Judgement, she penned: she 'felt like an animal in a cage, for everyone's entertainment.' Reflecting on the time in a chat with Cosmopolitan, the magazine noted: 'A police officer even mouthed b***job signals at her, while she sat in the dock.' The impact of the trial also left Tulisa with PTSD, with the singer noting that if she had to go through all the coverage of her trial she would 'have a nervous breakdown.' She explained: 'There was, an actual, very serious [suicide] attempt. There was also this moment of real depression where I was driving in my car, hysterically crying, and there was so much trauma that I had an out of body experience. 'It was like my brain was going so nuts that I had to physically detach the two.' A Met Police spokesperson told Daily Mail: 'We are unaware of this allegation from 2016, which has not been reported to us. 'We would encourage the complainant to make a report so we can investigate.' Following the trial, Tulisa spent more than a decade out of the public eye after it was ruled the infamous Fake Sheikh had trapped her in the drug sting. Mazher Mahmood, also known as the Fake Sheik, a former journalist for the Sun on Sunday was jailed for 15 months for perverting the course of justice after he tricked Tulisa into buying cocaine for him while he posed as a film producer. Since she stood on the steps of Southwark Crown Court in 2014 vindicated and condemned the 'horrific entrapment' from Mahmood, Tulisa has remained largely out of the spotlight, save an N-Dubz tour in 2022. She made her career comeback last year with a stint on I'm A Celebrity, in which she opened up about the lasting impact of the trial. Tulisa explained: 'I lost all my endorsements… my life fell apart.' Ahead of appearing in the Jungle, she said: 'There's nothing worse in that jungle than what happened in 2013.' She said: 'Every time I think, you know, this is going to be hard, I think I've done it, I can do it. 'And then I just got to the point, well, going on television again is the most uncomfortable situation I could possibly put myself in. 'And I feel like I've been on this kind of healing cycle for the past 11 years, really, since all the crap, since X Factor, since the trial. 'And this, for me, would complete the cycle, because it's the last thing on the list is this overwhelming fear that I have or have had. I'm not feeling it today, but overall, of this fear of being on especially TV.' The case was brought against Mahmood after Tulisa was accused of arranging for him to be sold £800 of cocaine by one of her contacts following an elaborate sting for the Sun on Sunday newspaper in May 2013. The trial had heard that 'King of the Sting' Mahmood and his driver, Alan Smith conspired to suppress evidence in the N-Dubz star's trial, which was thrown out at Southwark Crown Court in July 2014. During a meeting at the Metropolitan Hotel in London, Mahmood posed as a film producer and plied the popstar with alcohol as they discussed an acting role alongside Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio. As Smith drove the former X Factor judge home to Hertfordshire, she allegedly spoke about a family member who had a drug problem. When he was interviewed by police about the journey more than a year later, Smith, of Dereham, Norfolk, recalled the conversation. But a day later, after speaking to Mahmood and emailing his draft statement, the singer's anti-drugs comments were removed, the court heard. At a pre-trial hearing, Mahmood denied being an 'agent provocateur' or that he discussed the drugs conversation with Smith. But when he was questioned at length in the trial, Mahmood appeared to concede he had talked to Smith about what Miss Contostavlos said about drugs in the car. The case was subsequently thrown out. The following 10 years were 'hell' for Tulisa who had an entire future ahead of her ruined by the sting. Speaking about the ordeal, the I Need You singer said: 'Honestly, I can't tell you. 'Sure, at times it's been horrific for me at moments in the past 10 years, but that's just not the perspective that I have now. I take it all as knowledge.' 'Knowledge Is power and ultimately a blessing because I wouldn't be where I am without it, I wouldn't change a thing. 'I don't think I would have been able to do this unless I was feeling in such a strong content place. So it could only have been now. It couldn't have been before.'
The Guardian
5 minutes ago
- The Guardian
UK party leaders urged to end ‘pernicious currents' of hatred fuelling anti-migrant protests
More than 200 refugee organisations, charities and trade unions have signed an open letter calling on Britain's political leaders to end 'pernicious and insidious currents' of racism and hatred that underpin a slew of anti-migrant protests. The letter, coordinated by the campaign coalition Together With Refugees, has been signed by organisations including Amnesty International UK, City of Sanctuary UK, Care for Calais, Doctors of the World, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Freedom from Torture, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, the Public and Commercial Services Union, Refugee Action and Safe Passage. It was drafted in response to weeks of protests outside asylum seeker hotels in locations across the country, often countered by anti-racism activists. The protests have come against a backdrop of inflammatory language or misinformation from senior politicians including the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, and the senior Conservative Robert Jenrick. In June the prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he regretted a speech warning that Britain could become an 'island of strangers'. This weekend Jenrick prompted anger by claiming mass migration was putting women and girls at risk. He repeated the claim that 40% of sexual assaults committed in London last year were by foreign nationals – one of several assertions about immigration that have been disputed or debunked in recent days. On Monday, Reform UK claimed migrants from Muslim countries posed a threat to women's safety in Britain, as the party's only female MP, Sarah Pochin, claimed asylum seekers arriving on small boats held 'medieval views'. The charities' open letter, sent to the main UK party leaders on Monday, says: 'Anti-refugee protests across the country have been distressing to witness, with echoes of last summer's riots making them all the more alarming.' 'The pernicious and insidious currents of racism and hatred underlying these protests are glaring evidence of a failing system. The responsibility to end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past is yours. Only then will you bring unity instead of division and cohesion rather than hate.' The letter concludes: 'For those who need our compassion to be confronted with further torment here in the UK is shocking. But the outpouring of support from communities condemning the hatred is a powerful reminder that these views do not represent the vast majority. Today we stand in solidarity with those targeted, because this is what represents our country, this is who we are.' Sonya Sceats,the chief executive at Freedom from Torture, said: 'No matter who we are or where we come from, we all have the right to feel safe. We know from our clinical work that many men, women and children in these hotels came here seeking protection after being tortured in countries like Afghanistan and Iran. 'To meet with hate on the streets of Britain, whipped up by politicians for their own ends, makes survivors feel hunted again and adds to their trauma. This isn't who we are as a country. 'It is down to the millions of us who want a more compassionate approach to stand together with refugees and for an end to the torture and repression which drives people across borders in the first place.' Jo Benefield, the volunteer campaign coordinator for Bristol Defend the Asylum Seekers campaign, was one of many signatories who took part in counter-gatherings across the country. In Bristol on Saturday estimates suggest the protesters were outnumbered by eight to one, with about 50 in the anti-refugee group compared with about 400 people standing in solidarity with refugees. She said: 'In the riots of last summer it was counter-protesters who protected residents in another Bristol hotel before police arrived. So the people staying in the hotel being targeted this year were pleased to know so many of the local community were there to support them.' Tim Naor Hilton, the chief executive of Refugee Action, said: 'The vicious and relentless attacks on people seeking asylum from some politicians and sections of the media using age-old racist tropes and shoddy data must stop now. We must build on the huge swathes of support for refugees that has spilled out onto the streets and create truly resilient and welcoming communities.' Together With Refugees, the largest pro-refugee coalition in UK history, with more than 600 member organisations, is calling for a plan that upholds the UK's commitment under international law to the right to claim asylum, provides a proper strategy for welcoming refugees, and forges stronger global cooperation to tackle the root causes that force people to flee their homes.
