Sarah Martin 💙

A man who filmed an F-15 crash in Kuwait has been jailed since March 2, and his X and Instagram accounts have been taken down. His arrest comes amid a broader wave in which hundreds have been detained for filming similar incidents, with critics calling it a crackdown on dissent.

The right to protest isn’t a gift from government. It’s a democratic principle, hard-won and easily lost. Last night the government tried to smuggle through a “cumulative disruption” power that would let police ban protests simply because other people had protested in the same area before. Think about what that means: your right to march could be extinguished by someone else’s march on an entirely different issue. They knew this wouldn’t survive proper scrutiny - so they denied MPs the time to give it any. I supported the cross-party motion to oppose the cumulative disruption amendment. The government used its majority to force it through regardless. Protest is supposed to be disruptive. That’s the point. From the suffragettes to the anti-apartheid movement, it was cumulative, persistent, inconvenient protest that changed this country for the better. One of the most authoritarian political parties in modern British history is leading in the polls. As I said in the chamber when the government proscribed Palestine Action - a progressive Labour government should be building firewalls for our democracy, not tearing them down and pitch-rolling for Reform. This Bill isn’t law yet. It now returns to the Lords, and this fight is far from over.

French lawmakers set to push bill criminalising speech on Israel, with penalties of up to five years in prison

Tonight Labour MPs voted to erode our right to protest, handing police sweeping powers that could criminalise sustained strike action as "cumulative disruption." This is a direct escalation against the Palestine solidarity movement that has brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets. It follows the unlawful proscription of Palestine Action, a lost High Court battle they are still appealing, the targeting and failed prosecutions of artists, and over 3,000 arrests for holding a placard opposing genocide. The Labour Party is nothing more than Reform with a red rosette.