Zarah Sultana

“I rise in support of the motion tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) to disagree with Lords amendment 312. Today we are being asked to wave through one of the most draconian assaults on democratic freedoms in modern times, and let us be clear who is doing it: not the Tories—they are not even here—but the Labour party. This Labour Government are attacking the right to protest, attacking trial by jury, proscribing a non-violent direct action group, and handing NHS patient data to Palantir—a company that has helps US Immigration and Customs Enforcement tear migrant families apart and that generates kill lists for the Israeli military—and now they are doing this. This is a Government who are increasingly authoritarian day by day. When people take to the streets to fight back and expose this Government’s complicity in genocide, their answer is to ban them. The most draconian proposal being debated today—Lords amendment 312—would require the police to consider the “cumulative disruption” of repeated protests when deciding whether to impose restrictions. The “area” that the amendment refers to is undefined; it could mean a single street or the whole of central London. The cause is irrelevant; different groups and different issues can all be treated as one. And there is no time limit; what happened months ago could be used to shut down protests today. The UN special rapporteur on freedom of assembly warned MPs that she has never encountered legislation like this anywhere in the world and that it could serve as a blueprint for authoritarian Governments globally. Let that sink in. It is clear that the Palestine solidarity movement that has mobilised hundreds of thousands of people across this country is the Government’s principal target, but these far-reaching powers are an attack on trade unions too. Sustained picketing could be characterised as cumulative disruption, and the TUC has warned that these measures seriously endanger democracy. In Coventry, GMB Amazon workers staged over 30 days of industrial action—the first Amazon strike in British history—fighting for a living wage. In Birmingham, Unite bin workers have been on strike since January 2025 against a Labour council that is trying to cut their pay by £8,000. Under this amendment, that kind of sustained, repeated industrial action—the only leverage that workers actually have—would become grounds for restriction. I say to every Labour Member who has taken trade union money and trade union votes, do your job and defend them. The Labour party is supposedly the party of workers. The truth is that it is Reform with a red rosette. Let me describe the pattern of repression that this amendment joins. Palestine Action, a non-violent direct action group, was unlawfully proscribed by this Labour Government using counter-terrorism legislation. The High Court threw that out. What did this Labour Government do? They lodged an appeal and sent the police back on to the streets. Last week, over 500 people were arrested in London for holding placards that read, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” The Met has still not explained why it reversed its own policy after that ruling. Since last year, more than 3,000 people have been arrested for holding a placard—not a knife, not a weapon, but a placard. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am going to exercise the privilege of this House to place something on the public record that the mainstream press has chosen to ignore. Six Palestine Action activists face retrial after being acquitted in February following a year in prison. If convicted, they and 18 others will be sentenced as terrorists, but the jury will not be told that. The jury could convict them on criminal damage charges with no idea that terrorism sentences will follow. Not a single terrorism charge has been brought forward. The proscription has been ruled unlawful, and the defendants themselves have been banned from telling the jury that they acted to stop genocide under threat of contempt charges. This is what a stitch-up looks like, and it is part of the same pattern: a Labour Government that will do whatever it takes to silence dissent, protect Israeli death factories and escape accountability. To conclude, every advance in our history—whether it was votes for women, workers’ rights, LGBT rights, or racial justice—was won through sustained, repeated, disruptive protest. The logic of “cumulative disruption” would have crushed every one of those movements. I remind Labour Members opposite that their constituents sent them here to defend and strengthen their democratic rights, not erode them. Vote to disagree with Lord amendment 312 and vote against the roll-up motion.”