Democracy thrives on the right to dissent, to speak out against injustice, and to hold those in power to account. Yet today, that core right is under assault.
On 5 July, MPs in Westminster voted overwhelmingly to categorise Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, lumping a non-violent protest group together with the likes of Al-Qaeda and the UDA. Palestine Action used direct action to disrupt the supply of weapons to Israel. This designation makes it a criminal offence to support or be a member of the group, carrying a potential sentence of up to 14 years in prison.
Wearing clothing that displays the group’s name or logo could result in six months’ imprisonment or a £5,000 fine. Universities are being told to warn students that even displaying a Palestine Action badge could be considered a terrorism offence.
This wasn’t in any party manifesto. The public were not consulted. The move has been condemned across the political spectrum. The United Nations Human Rights Council criticised the “unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist,’” making clear that under international law, protest that causes property damage but does not intend harm should not be treated as terrorism.
Even The Times, hardly a radical paper, warned against the misuse of anti-terror powers. “This is not terrorism,” it said, adding that once such powers are deployed, they become increasingly easy to abuse. That danger is no longer hypothetical. It’s happening now.
This is a desperate move by a Labour government more concerned with arms sales to prop up the failing UK economy and appeasing its donors than with protecting democratic freedoms. It marks a chilling shift toward authoritarianism.
And the hypocrisy is staggering. While MPs criminalise today’s protesters, they’ve just unveiled a statue at Westminster honouring the suffragettes. Denied the vote and any meaningful voice, these brave women smashed windows, slashed paintings, and chained themselves to railings—actions that would now get them classed as terrorists. Their actions were not polite or convenient, but without them, women would have waited decades longer for the right to vote.
When peaceful dissent becomes a matter of police discretion, when protest is redefined as threat, democracy itself is in danger. This isn’t just an attack on Palestine Action. It’s an attack on all of us who believe democracy means more than voting every few years. As someone once said: if voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.
History shows Westminster does not give up power willingly, as shown again in 2021, when the people of Scotland elected a clear majority of MSPs committed to a second independence referendum. That democratic mandate was simply ignored. Since then, poll after poll has shown majority support for independence. Yet Unionist politicians tell us that no matter how many times we win democratic votes, we’ll never be “allowed” another referendum. It’s not such a stretch to imagine that, before long, support for independence could be deemed a threat under these expanding anti-terror laws.
But despite being denied our legitimate voice on the world stage, we in Holyrood must speak out on international issues that affect our shared humanity.
The reality in Gaza is beyond horror. Civilians have been shot while queuing for food. Aid convoys have been bombed. Families lie buried under rubble. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war. These are not isolated tragedies. They are deliberate acts, part of a campaign of siege and slaughter. These are war crimes. And those responsible must be brought to justice.
That’s why I, and others in the SNP, supported a motion in the Scottish Parliament describing what is happening as genocide and demanding accountability.
The SNP has called on the UK Government to “muster a shred of conviction and courage”, and to stop being complicit and start using its influence to bring peace. We’ve also called on the UK to recognise Palestine as a state, as more than 75% of UN member states already have.
As your MSP, I will continue to defend our right to protest, to dissent, and to speak out against injustice, because silence, in times like these, is not neutrality. It is complicity.
