In this powerful interview, former Labour MP Alan Simpson reflects on the Terrorism Act 2000, a law passed with assurances that it would not infringe on the right to protest.
Simpson, who served as MP for Nottingham South from 1992 to 2010, was an active voice in the original parliamentary debate and now warns that those assurances have been systematically eroded.
Simpson speaks candidly about how the Act has since been used to redefine peaceful protest as terrorism, citing the potential prescription of Palestine Action and future threats to climate activists like Just Stop Oil.
He argues that today’s civil disobedience is being treated not just as criminal, but as terroristic – a move that risks turning the UK into a totalitarian society.
He also critiques the silence of politicians, the co-opting of policing and a judiciary that appears to rubber-stamp repression. Simpson calls on the public to reclaim politics and resist authoritarianism.