Defend the right to protest

Four of the “Filton Six”, Palestine Action activists who broke into an Elbit Systems facility in Filton in 2024, have been found guilty at retrial of property damage, and sentenced to prison. One of them has also been found guilty of GBH on a police officer, after hitting them with a sledgehammer.

All of these are lesser sentences than the initial charges. At the first trial a jury found all six activists innocent of aggravated burglary, and came to no conclusion on charges of GBH against Corner and property damage against all defendants. This seemed to have been at least part due to the activists convincing the jury about their political motivation. The Filton Six have gone from life, or at least decades in prison, to a few years each, possibly already served on remand.

Meanwhile, Shabana Mahmood’s appeal against the High Court ruling that the proscription of PA was unlawful is now underway. If that appeal succeeds, then the Met Police will be vindicated for overturning their initial decision not to enforce the ban. Over 500 were arrested at a Defend Our Juries action in April, two months after the ban had been deemed unenforceable.

We are entering a worrying period for the right to protest in this country, and court rulings against Palestine Action – as well as recent moves by the government to prevent protest after a spike in antisemitic attacks – are the tip of a dangerous wedge. Labour movement activists must do everything we can to uphold and exercise the right to protest.