IN this paper on Saturday, Pat McArt warned about the gradual erosion of free speech and civil liberty.

As he wrote: “Rights and freedoms are rarely lost in one decisive step; they are more often eroded gradually through an accumulation of measures that may appear reasonable when viewed alone.”

It’s a process that has been proceeding steadily in Britain for the past 15 years or so, but accelerated under Starmer’s government with a crackdown on opposition to his completely wrong response to Israel’s genocide filmed daily in real time in Palestine.

It’s not just new legislation.

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There’s another aspect, equally damaging, which has been developing; that is the ‘creative’ interpretation of the increasingly draconian laws against protest and demonstration.

The most egregious example was invoking the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent amendments to proscribe Palestine Action, an organisation set up six years ago which engages in direct action including criminal damage.

Proscription means support for the group, verbally or financially, could result in a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

The consequence was immediate demonstrations against the government, leading to more than 3,000 people arrested for holding up placards in support of........

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