Five DoJ activists arrested in dawn raids by anti-terror police as repression of free speech escalates again
The Defend Our Juries (DOJ) group has confirmed that its planned mass action of more than a thousand protesters holding signs against the Starmer regime’s proscription (terrorist ban) of non-violent direct action group Palestine Action (PA) is going ahead despite police arresting five of its key spokespeople in dawn raids in London this morning under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The raids represent yet another escalation of the government’s ‘lawfare’ war on free speech and journalism about Israel’s genocide and other crimes in Gaza. As well as a string of arrests, detentions, raids and prosecutions of anti-genocide activists and journalists, many of them Jewish, Starmer’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was exposed consulting with the Israeli embassy about which activists to prosecute – including holding the ‘Filton 18’ in prison for more than a year before trial – and pro-Israel lobby groups also boasted of driving the terrorist designation of PA, which is still facing a judicial review.
DOJ’s Tim Crosland was arrested just hours before he was scheduled to hold a press conference announcing that the mass action involving more than a thousand holding signs protesting against Starmer’s ‘terror’ ban on Palestine Action will proceed in Westminster’s Parliament Square this Saturday from 1pm.
Other arrests include young law student Paddy Friend, who was preparing to speak at the press conference alongside Crosland:
The press conference had been extensively publicised, so the authorities knew its time and location. DOJ organisers were to announce in the press conference today that they had greenlit the ‘Lift the Ban’ action, which with as many as 1,500 participants is at least double the number of anti-proscription protesters arrested on 9 August, a significant challenge for police resources.
Friend recently said in an interview with BBC that:
Palestine Action protest could ruin my career but I felt I had to do it.
Witnesses of the raid on Friend’s home said police told them they were arresting Paddy Friend under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act because he had hosted a zoom call with other DOJ members. Other spokespeople arrested were told a similar story. The Zoom calls were public calls to provide legal briefings to those who signed up to take part in actions holding signs saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’. No one has been arrested for joining the Zoom calls – only the hosts of Zoom calls.
The official press conference has postponed until 2pm tomorrow, 3 September. A DOJ spokesperson said:
This is scandalous. Locking up our key spokespeople just hours before they were due to hold a press conference announcing more peaceful Lift the Ban protests constitutes an unprecedented assault on free speech in our country. This level of political repression is not what we expect in a democracy – it’s the kind of tactic typically associated with authoritarian regimes around the world.
Despite this dystopian crackdown targeting perceived organisers of peaceful protests, the mass action will go ahead, with 1,000 people pledging to hold signs. The mass defiance of the unjust ban on Palestine Action is unstoppable.
The Home Office and the Met would have known about our press conference today. The counter-terrorism police are clearly targeting people they perceive as organisers, and the key spokespeople arrested were told they were being arrested for hosting public Zoom calls. No one has been arrested for joining the Zoom calls – only the hosts – and we will be holding another Zoom call tonight ahead of our action on Saturday.
Last month ahead of our mass action on 9 August the Home Office and the Met Police tried to disrupt the organising of peaceful protest and deter people from taking part, including by taking down Zoom links for our public meetings, briefing the press that they had freed up prison places ahead of our action, and charging people under terrorism legislation. But it backfired spectacularly, inspiring hundreds more to join our action in Parliament Square and driving thousands to sign up on our website. Yvette Cooper’s scare tactics did not work last time and they won’t work this time. As the world’s leading genocide scholars declare that Israel is waging a genocide, this will only add to the mounting public outcry against the ban on Palestine Action which was disrupting the flow of arms enabling that genocide. A law so blatantly unjust and facing such widespread opposition across the political spectrum, is impossible to enforce and the government will be forced to abandon it.”
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North Korea standards now adopted by the UK.
Surpassed.
More cameras on you here than there is N. Korea.
Facial recognition systems being allowed in supermarkets.
I’ve had bloody murder trying to sign up for the NHS app to get repeat prescriptions for me and me dad. Didn’t have the problem going through the practice’s own app, but out of the blue, they’ve ditched it now. No reason given. Just told to get NHS app.
NHS app want photo ID. I’m not prepared to give it them. Had to go to the GP surgery to fill out forms to get a series of codes for the passwords to get the NHS app.
…And even then the receptionist wanted photo ID. Even though the app told me to go to the GP surgery if I didn’t want to give ID.
Well they can swivel. I refuse to jump through their hoops to get something that I had taken away from me for no reason. I’ll post my prescriptions manually in future.
Manifesto… Whilst this action to modernise the House of Lords will be an improvement, Labour is committed to replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the regions and nations. Labour will consult on proposals, seeking the input of the British public on how politics can best serve them.
Guardian today ….Keir Starmer is finalising a list of dozens of new peerages to strengthen his hand in the Lords, with his outgoing policy chief, Liz Lloyd, to be made a minister in the upper house after leaving No 10 in his major shake-up.
The prime minister has drawn up a list of Labour allies to be elevated to the House of Lords to help drive through legislation
So. He lied. I can hardly believe he’d lie ………………… [sarcasm]
Reprobate Prime Minister, Keir ‘slapper’ Starmer (see below), is destroying the UK’s international reputation for upholding human rights and the rule of law.
Amnesty International describe the dawn raids and arrests as “incredibly concerning” and indicative of “authoritarian practices”.
Starmer’s use of anti-terror powers to target individuals planning a peaceful protest reflects his instinct of using expansive legal tools against political dissent. Only authoritarians of the worst type would see this sort of thing as acceptable.
Keir Starmer is ensuring that Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) become government policy where pro-Palestine opinion is concerned.
Make of this what you will.
“Sir Keir Starmer slammed the Metropolitan Police after officers arrested Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan over a series of social media posts.
The Prime Minister told the force to focus on tackling serious crime after the Irish writer was arrested by five armed officers upon arriving at Heathrow Airport following a flight from Arizona.”
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/starmer-father-ted-police-5HjdBnf_2/
Oh dear!
Is that the best dead cat on the table you can come up with, Billy?
Just remind us where the buck stops in setting the legal context for the police to act on complaints which result in the kind of experience Graham Linehan and many others go through?
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/i-just-got-arrested-again?
In opposition Kier Starmer, David Lammy, Emily Thornberry, Lisa Nandy, Nadia Whittome and others were all over the media setting the stage for such action against anyone from the reality based community on this issue.
This sorry excuse for a PM and his entire team make the rules up as they go along. Chopping and changing to suit with no consistency.
Do really think anyone is going to be impressed with some non-binding criticism of something Starmer and his entire clown show have publicly cheerleaded for? That he’s suddenly done a 180 degree turn instead of an Annalena Baerbock 360 degree tuen?
Are we simply supposed to forget the authoritarian dystopia inherent in example after example of the kind of police state regime shown in this Skwawkbox report – which you, Billy, spend most of your time making excuses for because it’s the team you voted for and support overseeing it just because your war criminal Icon has said this?
Actions speak louder than words. And the actions of this Regime and their pathetic, sycophantic apologists and shills are what they should be judged on. Not a few mere placatory meaningless words.
“Make of this what you will….”
Ta. It doesn’t make me believe that Kier Starmer is actually a believer in free-thought, free-speech and tFreedom of Opinion.
Paul Knaggs’ new article hits all the right targets, inho. “Thought Crime is Crime. Big Brother is Watching”
https://labourheartlands.com/thoughtcrime-at-heathrow/
ICYMI, wee gobshite (I’m being polite, everyone knows you swerved it).
https://skwawkbox.org/2025/08/31/in-2017-under-corbyn-labour-held-94-98-durham-county-council-seats-under-starmer-it-has-4/#comments
😙🎶
From Paul Knaggs at Labour Heartlands:
Thoughtcrime at Heathrow: From Father Ted to 1984 The Chilling Reality of Starmer’s Britain
Five armed officers for three tweets represents more than resource misallocation; it constitutes psychological warfare designed to terrorise dissidents into silence. The staging was deliberate: maximum visual impact, overwhelming force, medical emergency induced through stress, hospital treatment as consequence of expressing opinions. This represents state terrorism applied to suppress democratic discourse.
The blood pressure spike that sent Linehan into “stroke territory” wasn’t accidental byproduct but intended outcome. When expressing legal opinions in democratic societies requires medical treatment due to state response, the message becomes unmistakable: conform or face consequences that might kill you.
The bail condition banning him from X completes the Orwellian picture. Room 101 required sophisticated torture; modern Britain achieves identical results through judicial decree. When courts can prohibit citizens from accessing legal platforms for expressing unpopular opinions, we witness the transformation of free speech from protected right into revocable privilege.
https://labourheartlands.com/thoughtcrime-at-heathrow
How long before DoJ is formally (de jure) proscribed under the terrorism Act?
After all, expressing support for Palestine is effectively (de-facto) proscribed despite the position of the judiciary.
Firstly, here’s the latest from Graham Linehan with audio of his arrest as it happened:
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/my-arrest-as-it-happened
Secondly, on the topic of the DoJ arrests, it seems more than reasonable to surmise that the plodocracy will be trawling through any devices they found on the various premises (if any) to obtain any date they can on those who have volunteered for this coming Saturday’s protest and those who slipped through the net back in August along with any more general supporters details.
Finally, vis a vis the present debate on do we or don’t we stand by the principles of being opposed to Zionism as defined by the Zionists themselves……
““We are indeed in the stage of barbarism, but this is not the end of Zionism … [This barbarism] has not killed Zionism. On the contrary, it has made it relevant. Zionism has had various versions, but none resembled the new, updated, violent Zionism: the Zionism of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir …
“The old Zionism is no longer relevant. It established a state and revived its language. It has no more goals … If you ask a Zionist today what their Zionism is, they wouldn’t know how to answer. ‘Zionism’ has become an empty word … Until [that is] Meir Kahane came along. He came with an updated Zionism whose goals are clear: to expel Arabs and settle Jews. This is a Zionism that doesn’t hide behind pretty words. “Voluntary evacuation” makes it laugh. “Transfer” enchants it. It is proud of “apartheid” … To be a Zionist today is to be Ben-Gvir. To be non-Zionist is to be antisemitic. An antisemite [today] is someone who reads Haaretz …”.
– From Yossi Klein writing in Haaretz
“Smotrich declared this week that the Jewish people are experiencing ‘physically’, “the process of redemption and the return of the divine presence to Zion – as they engage in the ‘conquest of the land’”.
– Both of the above from Alistair Crooks writing at The Strategic Culture Foundation : “Israel’s ‘new, violent Zionism’ as a harbinger of Imperial geo-politics of submission and obedience”
……In the present climate, on the current trajectory, and the velocity of that trajectory, it is more than plausible that anti-Zionism itself along with any verbal, non-verbal or written/published expression of such will be made a criminal and likely terrorist offence in the not too distent future.
Earlier today, a long-time anti-Zionist supporter of Jeremy Corbyn asked him whether he would follow Zarah Sultana’s lead and openly declare himself an anti-Zionist. He refused. https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2025/08/28/jeremy-corbyn-zionist/ After being savaged as an Anti Semite and later many Zionists dancing on his political grave, he is refusing to call himself an Anti Zionist, unlike his partner Zarah Sultana who calls herself a proud Anti Zionist. Will Corbyn expel Anti Zionists from ‘Your party’. Since Zionism is Racist, Supremacist and Genocidal, it should be a no brainer, one is left to wonder what Corbyn is thinking.
It could well be that Corbyn does not want to be tarred as anti Israeli since criticism of Israel could infringe a section of the IHRA. He will be condemned whatever he does, by the usual suspects, Zarah Sultana speaks the truth, Jeremy is trying to cover all bases, he will be destroyed by the same forces this time around.
As laid out in Alistair Crooke’s latest piece……
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/09/01/israels-new-violent-zionism-as-a-harbinger-of-imperial-geo-politics-of-submission-and-obedience/
……by its own definition and on its own terms, Israel is run as a Zionist project whose key defining doctrine is ethnic supremicism and racist apartheid.
Being in favour of a fully functional sovereign Palestinian State anywhere in the region is, under the definition of Zionism determined by Israel, to be anti-Zionist. Even a two-state solution falls into the definition of anti-Zionist and therefore ‘anti-Semitic’.
Refusing to answer the question and be clear on the principles will not avoid this. Because acting in support of the rights of Palestinians is considered ipso facto anti-Zionist and therefore anti-Semitic.
The only way for anyone individually or as a collective – including Jeremy Corbyn and the new party – to avoid being labelled as anti-Semitic is to pack up and go home and stop ALL activity in support of Palestinian rights.
Though I doubt even that would be sufficient for these rabid Zealot Zionists, who would likely expect not only everyone who has ever supported Palestinians to publicly renounce that stance and declare themselves Zionists without qualification, but to also personally commit to actively exterminating Palestinians to demonstrate their fealty of the fascist Zionist cause.
It is not congruent with the definition of Zionism as it exists inside and outside Israel not to be anti-Zionist when acting to support Palestinian rights. In fact, under Israel’s/Zionist’s own definition, considering the right of Palestinians to exist as a people and ethnic group is anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic.
There is no way around this other than confronting it head on by being honest about this reality.
I agree with you Dave Corbyn has to be honest as I indicated in my first comment ,,,”To guide IHRA in its work, the following examples may serve as illustrations:
Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity”. Hence his reluctance to be involved in Anti/Pro Zionism arguments. this is fatal and will split the party before it is up and running.
Corbyn was accused of not fighting his corner when leading the party, his accusers now conflating all the usual antisemitic lies can see Corbyn has not changed, this needs to be addressed pronto. Here is Jackie Walker on the Crispin Flintoff show..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8hf4tyiUTI
Grassroots members of Your Party will make its policy including on Palestine.
And this time we fight back!