UK Politics

GENEVA – UN experts* today urged the United Kingdom not to ban the “direct action” group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.

“We are concerned at the unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’,” the experts said. “According to international standards, acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism.”

The Government asserts that the group is “terrorist” because some members have allegedly caused criminal damage to property, including at military bases and arms companies, with the aim of progressing its political cause and influencing the Government. Proscription would trigger a range of criminal offences relating to support for the group.

Live reporting of the second reading of the infamous welfare bill.

The Work and Pensions Minister Sir Stephen Timms is expected to tell MPs that the timing of the eligibility changes to the personal independence payment (Pip) will now take account of the findings of the review that Timms is to lead.

MPs have expressed concerns over the last 24 hours that the planned scheduling of the Timms review was too close to the planned changes to Pip eligibility, that are due to come into affect in November of next year - and so its conclusions wouldn’t be able to be acted upon.

The government will seek to reassure MPs that this issue will now be resolved.

A group of MPs have been accused of a “crystal clear breach of the rules” after taking money from a weapons firm owned by the Israeli government.

RUK Advanced Systems Ltd – which makes missiles for urban warfare – is part of Israel’s state-owned defence giant, Rafael.

Records showed that the company paid at least £1,499 to partner with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Defence Technology, which provides “opportunities to network with MPs”. The money was paid directly to the group’s secretariat.

RUK describes itself as a “UK company”. But official records show it was controlled by the Israeli government’s Ministry of Finance,** which is led by far-right politician Bezalel Smotrich** who is sanctioned by Britain for inciting “extremist violence” against Palestinians.

Oxfam’s UK chief executive, Dr Halima Begum, expressed disappointment at a British court ruling which refused to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, which it’s using in its war on Gaza, on Monday. Oxfam submitted evidence in the case.

“The judgment is surprising and deeply disappointing,” Begum said.

“The Court and the Government have both acknowledged that UK arms are at risk of being used in breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza yet prioritise the supply chains of fighter jets over the lives of Palestinians,” she added.

“It is unconscionable that the Government would continue to license the sale of components for F35 jets knowing that they are used to deliberately attack civilians in Gaza and destroy their means of survival, including vital water supplies.

Impartial broadcaster btw.

The punk band Bob Vylan has now officially been dropped by the talent agency UTA following the comments being made during their Glastonbury set.

During the performance, the band led a pro-Palestine chant with their crowd, proclaiming “death to the IDF”. Following comments from the festival staff as well as various politicians, UTA has announced their decision to part ways with the group.

Insiders have said that UTA senior executives agreed with the festival, saying that the band had taken their political beliefs too far when making their comments. Despite not coming out with any official statement, all images and information relating to the musical duo have been wiped from the company’s website.

The BBC continued in a statement, “The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance.”

Kinda politics, kinda culture. Definitely both. Thoughts?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/32467220

By Elis Gjevori
Published date: 28 June 2025 21:08 BST

"Channel 4 will broadcast Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, a documentary laying out damning allegations that Israeli forces systematically targeted Gaza's hospitals and medical staff throughout their military campaign—allegations which would amount to grave breaches of international law.

"This is a meticulously reported and important film examining evidence which supports allegations of grave breaches of international law by Israeli forces," said L. Compton, Channel 4's Head of News and Current Affairs. "It exemplifies Channel 4's commitment to brave and fearless journalism," she added.

The depiction of strangulation in pornography will be banned in a move to protect women from violence, the Government has announced.

Sounds like someone who lacks original ideas.

According to an invitation to the event seen by MEE, Pahlavi is set to brief MPs and peers on "the ongoing situation in Iran and his plan for the collapse of the current regime and for a stable transition to a secular democracy".

Akehurst told MEE: "It is for the Iranian people to decide what type of government they want, but clearly MPs are going to be interested in hearing what different opposition voices have got to say about the future of such an important country."

As a staunch defender of a US-backed monarchy that he hopes to bring back to Iran, he has made several visits to Israel, taken photographs with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cast himself as the only viable leader of a modern Iran if the Islamic Republic collapses.

I found this image on the internet and I thought some of you might enjoy it.

In 2017, we did exactly what Palestine Action did last week: we broke into an airbase. Our actions were extremely similar to theirs, and so were our aims.

Most of the Royal Saudi Air Force is manufactured right here in the UK by Britain’s merchants of death, BAE Systems. Carrying flags bearing the words of Yemenis whose lives have been destroyed by UK-made weapons, we cut through fences at BAE Warton. We were caught by security just meters from Saudi-bound fighter jets.

In our case, these jets were being sent to Saudi Arabia to be used to create what the UN called “the world’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe” in Yemen. In Palestine Action’s case, British planes are being sent to Cyprus and then mysteriously disappearing over the Mediterranean sea – linked, many suspect, to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

There are a few key differences between our actions and theirs. Unlike Palestine Action, we were not attacked by the Israel lobby. We were not the victims of an obsessive Islamophobic police crackdown. We are both white. Woody is a Methodist reverend: shortly after security caught us, Woody loosened the scarf from his Cambridge theological college to reveal his dog collar. The security guards that had caught us literally went, “Oh shit!”

As a result of our social position and less politicised target, we have been treated completely differently to the members of Palestine Action. We were arrested carrying a list of the serial codes of fighter jets worth over £1bn and a prepared statement explaining our intent to disarm them. Our lawyers were worried it might be the highest-value case of intent to cause criminal damage in British legal history. Their fears were short-lived: the police couldn’t wait to rush Woody out of the station, and charged us with only low-level criminal damage. A court found us not guilty.

Five elected members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the UK’s largest Jewish representative body, have been suspended for two years after publicly criticising Israel’s military assault on Gaza, an act they described as incompatible with Jewish values and morally indefensible.

The suspensions follow an open letter signed by 36 deputies and published in the Financial Times on 16 April. “Israel’s soul is being ripped out” said the signatories expressing their opposition to the genocidal war in Gaza. The letter, which came amid mounting civilian deaths and growing global calls for accountability, urged Jewish leaders to break their silence in the face of war crimes and mass suffering.