Britain’s new terror

Yvette Cooper's proposed legislation would put Palestine Action in the same category as Isis, Hamas and al-Qaeda View in browser Fred Harter • Monday 30 June 2025 Dear friend, Welcome to today's Sensemaker. Long stories short Iran said 71 people were killed in last week's strike on Evin Prison. Keir Starmer demanded answers from the BBC over Glastonbury's "death to IDF" chants. Scores of Norwegians were wrongly told they'd won millions in the lottery. Britain's new terror The home secretary Yvette Cooper will table legislation in parliament today that would ban Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act.                  So what? If passed, it will be the first time a protest group has been proscribed as a terror organisation. Palestine Action would be put in the same category as jihadist groups such as Isis, Hamas and al-Qaeda, and neo-Nazi organisations such as National Action. This would               make membership or support of Palestine Action illegal; mark a significant escalation in the policing of civil disobedience; and raise new questions about the limits of free speech, protest rights and dissent in the UK.                  Egg on face. Presenting the decision to parliament last week, Cooper cited the group's "disgraceful" targeting of RAF Brize Norton earlier this month as "the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage" by the group.               The incident saw activists ride up the apron of the RAF's biggest airbase on scooters. Footage showed one spraying red paint into the engine of an Airbus Voyager. Downing Street said military activities were unaffected, but the break-in was embarrassing at a time when Labour is beefing up national security in response to Russian threats.               History. Founded in 2020, Palestine Action says it uses "disruptive tactics" against "corporate enablers of the Israeli military-industrial complex". Its main target is Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company with UK subsidiaries, but the group has also acted against insurers, banks and other defence firms it claims are linked to Israel's military.              Hit list. Palestine Action's co-founder, Huda Ammori, estimates the group has carried out hundreds of actions that have grown more frequent since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023. They include                occupying the Birmingham factory of Arconic, which the group says makes materials for Israeli fighter jets, in 2021; blocking the sewage pipes of the Leicester factory of a drone company owned by Elbit and French defence firm Thales in 2023; and breaking into Elbit's research and development site in Bristol last August.            Impact. The group's actions have allegedly caused millions of pounds in damage and forced Elbit to sell a factory in Staffordshire. Several of its members have faced criminal charges but been acquitted or received non-custodial sentences.          No thanks. Directly targeting a British military site crossed a line in the eyes of a Labour government that wants to be taken seriously on defence. Cooper said the government "will not tolerate those who put that security at risk".         Ahead of the game. On Thursday, police arrested three people on suspicion of a terror offence, and a fourth on suspicion of assisting an offender, after the Brize Norton action. The powers used are typically employed against people suspected of planning far-right or jihadist attacks.        Backlash. Kellys Solicitors, which represents several Palestine Action activists, says a ban would set a "terrifying precedent" that "constitutes an unlawful, dangerous and ill thought out attack on freedom of expression and assembly". At least 11 MPs, including several from Labour, oppose the decision. This will not be enough to stop the legislation passing.       After a ban. Being a member of, or encouraging support for, Palestine Action will carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years. Wearing a t-shirt that arouses "reasonable suspicion" that an individual is a supporter could bring a sentence of six months.      The bigger picture. Cooper says the move specifically targets Palestine Action and "does not affect lawful protest groups" campaigning on Middle East issues. But it comes after a series of laws that campaigners say has dramatically curtailed the right to protest in the UK:     The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 made "intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance" a statutory offence, carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison. The Public Order Act 2023 made it an offence to obstruct transport networks and attach oneself to other objects or land. It allows the home secretary to apply for injunctions stopping protests in certain areas. Serious Disruption Prevention Orders, which form part of this Act, allow police to stop certain individuals attending protests.    Legacy. The Conservatives passed these laws to combat a wave of direct action by protest movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. Palestine Action draws inspiration from these groups. Its members have also been compared to the activists who broke into RAF Fairford in 2003 and damaged equipment to protest the Iraq War. What's more… one of the Fairford protesters was defended by a then-rising human rights barrister: Keir Starmer. Chart of the Week Postcard from SW19 Over the next two weeks, The Observer sports team will be at Wimbledon to watch the tennis and report back on the big (and small) stories that make the tournament so special. Today, Carlos Alcaraz begins his campaign to win his third men's championship in a row, while British hopeful Emma Raducanu is also in action (she laughed-off rumours that she and Alcaraz were romantically involved at a pre-Wimbledon press conference last night, claiming they were "just good friends"). In the stands, spectators will have to deal with the mildest of controversies: the price of strawberries has risen for the first time in 15 years. The Nibs Capital Economy, business and finance Queue jumpers Earlier this year, Universal said it would open its first European theme park in Bedfordshire. Now the company has applied to fast-track the construction, lodging a special development order to bypass the local planning process. The government, which has repeatedly pledged to reform the planning system, will likely play ball. Universal Bedford is already supported by £500 million of infrastructure projects to which the UK government has committed, and the theme park promises to create 20,000 construction jobs and attract 8.5 million visitors a year. But does that warrant skipping local scrutiny? More than 90 per cent of the feedback during local public engagement events held in 2024 was positive. On the other hand, only 6,000 residents took part, which amounts to roughly 3 per cent of the population of Bedford and surrounding villages. Technology AI, science and new things Beast mode The world's biggest YouTuber has pulled an AI-powered thumbnail generator after being criticised by fellow creators for developing a product that "steals" people's work. It's the latest controversy faced by MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, who was recently accused by the Mexican government of "exploiting" the Mayan pyramids for a video. MrBeast has long talked about the importance of YouTube thumbnails in maximising views, paying $10,000 per design and creating up to 20 variations with a team of six people. Clearly it works: he has 400 million subscribers, greater than the population of the US. But AI is as tetchy a subject on YouTube as it is in the film industry. Google recently admitted it used a subset of the site's 20 billion videos to train its large language models. MrBeast's $80-a-month tool was never going to go down well. The 100-year life Health, education and government Power up Donald Trump's powers have been expanded by a Supreme Court ruling that limits the ability of judges to curb executive actions. The president's efforts to end birthright citizenship, which makes everyone born on American soil a citizen, have so far been blocked by a nationwide injunction issued by district courts. But justices ruled on Friday that Trump's order could come into effect in a month's time, even though no court has found it to be constitutional. The broader implications are that district judges can no longer issue nationwide injunctions. Only the Supreme Court can. A politically-neutral reading of the decision is that presidents of both parties won't have their agenda slowed by lower court judges, who also stymied Biden and Obama. But the reality is that it is Trump, trying to remake the country in defiance of constitutional norms, who will capitalise with the help of a Supreme Court tilted in his favour. Our planet Climate and geopolitics Parallel universe The Israeli military has launched an investigation into possible war crimes following reports that its soldiers deliberately fired at Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza. On Friday, Haaretz quoted IDF officers and soldiers who told the paper they were instructed to shoot at unarmed crowds to disperse them even if there was no threat. "You feel it's not right," said one soldier. "But Gaza is a parallel universe." The Israeli army denied its troops had been ordered to fire directly at civilians, while Netanyahu called the claims "malicious falsehoods" meant to defame "the most moral military in the world". According to the health ministry, more than 500 people have been killed trying to get food and other support since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was launched in the enclave last month. The UN has accused the US-backed scheme of militarising aid. Culture Society, identity and belonging Sea change Tuvalu is an island paradise with roughly 10,000 inhabitants, but more than a third want to leave. Australia opened up registrations for a special "climate visa" this month, allowing Tuvaluans to migrate to the country to escape rising seas and move freely back and forth. At least 4,000 people have applied. Tuvalu has an average elevation of two metres and two of its nine islands are largely underwater. It is feared the entire country, which has a land mass of about 26 square kilometres spread across a vast stretch of ocean, could be gone by the end of the century. But many candidates for relocation across the Coral Sea will be disappointed as only 280 people will be able to move each year. The scheme has also raised questions about Tuvalu's sovereignty; a former prime minister called it "modern-day colonialism". The Week Ahead UK 30/6 – Care minister Stephen Kinnock to speak at Re:State health conference; Module 6 hearings of Covid Inquiry begin. 1/7 – Foreign Influence Registration Scheme enforced; Local Government Association conference begins in Liverpool. 2/7 – Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood addresses annual judges' dinner; defence secretary John Healey questioned by Defence Select Committee. 3/7 – 10-year strategy for NHS rumoured to be published; Ofsted chief inspector Martyn Oliver speaks at Festival of Education in Crowthorne. 4/7 –  One year since Labour's election win; Oasis begin reunion tour in Cardiff.   World 30/6 –  Israeli settlement activity discussed by UN Security Council; jury deliberations begin in Sean 'Diddy' Combs trafficking trial. 1/7 – France expands smoking ban; US secretary of state Marco Rubio hosts talks with Japanese, Indian and Australian counterparts. 2/7 –  Latin American leaders' summit held in Argentina; Women's Euros kicks off in Switzerland. 3/7 – UN to release report on human rights violations in Palestinian territories since 1967; Aix-en-Provence Economic Forum begins. 4/7 – Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to meet French counterpart; US Independence Day. 5/7 – Tour de France begins in Lille. 6/7 – 2025 Brics summit held in Rio. Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up and tell us what you think. Fred Harter @FredHarter Additional reporting by Xavier Greenwood and Brad Gray. Edited by Xavier Greenwood.     More from The Observer Read The private trials of Keir Starmer The prime minister reveals the quiet grief and inner determination of his first year in office – and why he 'deeply regrets' his 'island of strangers' speech Click here to read more → Follow Follow The Observer on social media on your preferred platform:   The Observer     The Observer Food Monthly The Observer Magazine The Observer New Review   Listen Listen for free in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts: Want to change how you receive these emails? Update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Tortoise Media. All rights reserved. Did this email get caught in your spam filter? Add editor@newsroom.tortoisemedia.com to your address book to never miss an email again. No longer want to receive this newsletter? 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