Readers discuss Gaza protest arrests, Trump's walk, and nuclear safety
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones thanked the police for their 'bravery and courage' in arresting 532 people protesting against the banning of Palestine Action on Saturday.
I was one of those protesters and I know, from chatting with the policeman who arrested me, that he shows considerable bravery in his regular duties.
But I'm sure he would be insulted by the suggestion that his action on Saturday – walking slowly with a 69-year-old man to a police van – required 'bravery'.
Similarly, I think he would have found it ludicrous when the minister suggested the police were 'protecting the public' by arresting hundreds of mostly elderly people, sitting silently, holding signs, in Parliament Square. Bob Banks, Sheffield
I have never felt more proud of my fellow citizens and more ashamed of my country.
I cannot commend more highly the self-sacrifice of more than 500 people who chose to get arrested on Saturday.
They do not know how they will be treated by the justice system or what impact it could have in respect of working, finance, study and travel.
This for drawing attention to the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and to the oppressive legislation used to silence dissent.
I was arrested on July 19. I was inspired by the first arrests. These new arrests will only inspire the next 1,000. Stephen Stone, Norwich
Funny how people like Dennis Fitzgerald (MetroTalk, Mon) chose to mock Donald Trump for being seen taking a walk on the White House roof.
When I think about Trump, I think about the peace deal Trump sealed last week between Armenia and Azerbaijan, who have been hostile against each other since the late 80s.
I guess that's the difference between people like Dennis and people like me. Paulo Rodrigues, London
I wish 'environmentalists' such as Adrian Appley (MetroTalk, Mon) – who opposes 'lethal' nuclear power stations – would make up their minds. Either we're in the middle of a 'climate emergency', in which case the prospect of limitless energy from overwhelmingly safe nuclear power stations is far better than hoping the wind blows and the sun shines at the right time, or we're not, in which case can the government please stop spending our taxes on subsidising electric vehicles, home solar panels, heat pumps etc that very few people actually want? Chris H, London
Adrian's opinion on nuclear is so behind the times it exasperates me.
Modern nuclear reactors are much safer than anything used in the 1970s when Chernobyl was built. More Trending
We live in a democracy, which isn't incentivised to cover up what might be happening for days (as happened with Chernobyl, making the incident much worse).
And don't get me started on HS2, which he also opposes. That failed because the government decided to ask the opinions of every Nimby between London and Manchester, meaning they had to keep changing things. Deon, London
A huge island of congealed wet wipes is being removed from the Thames (Metro, Tue).
The government must launch a 'keep drains clear' campaign on TV on how to dispose of items. People want to get rid of stuff there and then – they don't like the smell in their bins, or to handle it. But oil can be collected in a jar and frozen and disposed of in a lump. Give new mums a nappy disposal unit – that's better than blockages. Only older people know how to deal with waste because they didn't have so many cleaning options. Patricia, via email
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BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
After mass arrests, what happens next with Palestine Action ban?
The pictures from last week's sit-in protest in Parliament Square over the banned group Palestine Action were demonstrators held up placards reading, "I support Palestine Action", some 522 of them were arrested on suspicion of breaking terrorism laws - more than double the total such arrests in average age was 54, said the police. Some 112 of them were over 70 years old. The battle over the ban on Palestine Action (PAG) - last month, proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK - now feels as much a political and PR battle as a legal the organisers of the campaign are trying to capitalise on perceived sympathy among some of the public by organising another demonstration in September - hoping to force the state, through numbers, to lift the does it end?Does it risk becoming an "I am Spartacus moment"? - the words of Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, the Labour peer and civil rights campaigner? That depends on three courtroom battles that will each, in turn, influence how Palestine Action is publicly perceived and legally start with the protesters arrested since July for showing support for the group - more than 700 so lawyer says it has been awkward so far for police officers."I've seen police look incredibly uncomfortable with the fact that they are having to treat these elderly people as criminals," said solicitor Katie McFadden, who advised many protesters, after their arrests, last Saturday."I've seen them in police custody and they've certainly been considerate and looked, frankly, quite shocked and horrified that this is what they were having to do as part of their job when they've signed up to go out and protect the public from dangerous criminals."The real challenge for the police and prosecutors is how many protesters do they need to charge with support of a banned terrorist organisation to send a message to the public. And what message do they send if they don't charge them all? So far, three people have been charged with displaying an item showing support for Palestine Action during the first demonstration on 5 July. They will all appear in court next director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, had to consult the Attorney General's Office before he could go ahead with the charges because of additional safeguards in some terrorism means that Lord Hermer, the Attorney General and also a cabinet minister, or his deputy, may have to be involved in each of the files that police send to in turn, means the vast majority of the 700 may not know for months if they are going to end up on trial - in cases that could be more than a year away from a assuming they do get charged, history suggests the risk of a maximum of 14-year sentence is low. Palestine Action can challenge UK ban, court rulesPalestine Action protest arrests rise to more than 500Some don't know 'full nature' of Palestine Action, says Cooper Conventionally, a conviction like this would leave careers in tatters and have other life-changing equation for some Palestine Action protesters is are older people who have graduated from involvement in climate change activism and believe the ban breaches free speech safeguards. It seems many have fewer fears about the impact of arrest on their day-to-day is the ban on Palestine Action a legal and PR disaster in the making for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper?Huda Ammori, Palestine Action's co-founder, has said on social media: "The system can't cope when thousands resist." But ministers hope that the difference between the organisation she founded and other forms of protest over Gaza will become clear thanks to the second of the three linked legal battles soon to take centre August 2024 alleged PAG supporters broke into Elbit Systems UK in Bristol, an Israeli defence firm that has long been a key target.A repurposed prison van smashed through a security fence and crowbars and a sledgehammer were allegedly used to smash up people were injured: a security guard and two police Action promoted video of the damage - but not any pictures of the alleged allegations begin to come to trial in November. Some 18 people deny charges including criminal damage, assault causing actual bodily harm, violent disorder and aggravated incident prompted national security officials and the police to look at whether a terrorism ban on PAG could be justified, after having previously concluded that the vast majority of its highly disruptive activities amounted to minor criminal damage. Documents disclosed to the BBC in the High Court show how the thinking on a ban had evolved. Palestine Action was becoming more militant, said officials. It had allegedly produced an "underground manual" that it was claimed detailed how to plan a "break-in", referring to face masks, burner phones and fake car number plates."With an efficient sledgehammer in your hand, you can cause quite a bit of damage," the manual read, before than detailing how to do this is where the UK's wide definition of terrorism comes in. It includes not just the threat or use of violence to advance a cause - but also the use of serious criminal because in the 1990s the IRA began causing economic damage through bombs, without taking when Cooper banned PAG, her decision was largely informed by what the Home Office has described as millions of pounds of criminal damage, not an assessment that it was a group of murderous militants."Proscription is about one narrow group that has been involved in violent attacks including injuries, including weapons, smoke bombs causing panic among innocent people, major criminal damage," the home secretary said following last Saturday's arrests."There may be people who are objecting to proscription who don't know the full nature of this organisation due to court restrictions on reporting while serious prosecutions are under way but it's really important that no one is in any doubt that this is not a non-violent organisation." Ms Ammori has contested this characterisation, saying the government's own papers show that Palestine Action did not advocate for brings us to the third of the three big legal challenges that will decide this affair: was the Home Secretary right?The High Court will consider in the autumn if the ban was a rational and proportionate response to PAG's Hall KC, the independent watchdog of terrorism laws, has previously told BBC News that the ban is legally workable because the group had moved from protest into what is effectively "blackmail" - suggesting it was exerting pressure to get what it Ms Ammori's legal team have a range of significant arguments around freedom of Turk, the United Nations' human rights chief has got involved too, saying the ban is so wrong it places the UK outside international outcome of that case will define whether Palestine Action remains banned. If the ban falls, then the 700 arrested so far are free - their cases would collapse. As for the group itself, it may feel emboldened - but would know that it could still be banned again if its actions cross the terrorism laws the ban stands, then the advantage will be with the government - and arrests and charges will is the counter-terrorism policing way: slowly but surely, step by step, seek to contain and, ultimately, crush the threat.
