The rapid reduction of our right to resist
JVL Introduction
This powerful video highlights the problems with the Blair government’s Terrorism Act passed in 2000, the precursor to the increasingly authoritarian measures threatening the right to protest now. It reminds us that the dangers were recognised in the parliamentary debate at the time, by Tories as well as Labour MPs, all warning against the grave implications of defining damage to property as being potentially terrorist.
The video brings the story up to date with present day parliamentarians explaining and challenging new threats to our democratic freedoms.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana is heard noting that 21 years ago Keir Starmer successfully defended an anti Iraq War protester who damaged property on an RAF base – an irony matched by Home Secretary Shabbana Mahmoud’s past pro-Palestine activism reported indulgently by Jewish News last year.
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This article was originally published by Page 75 on Sun 12 Oct 2025. Read the original here.
Requiem for Protest
This is a 13 minute piece by the team who made documentary THE LINE WE CROSSED, director Liz Smith and composer Kim Halliday, and was created from footage shot of the “Lift The Ban” protest in Trafalgar Square on 4 October 2025. As we witness person after person being carried into the ‘sterile’ area by police, it is set to a requiem composed by Kim and incorporates words from politicians from the past and from today. We did not heed their warnings in 1999, will we heed their warnings today? The piece serves also as an explanation of how it is that we are witnessing hundreds of peaceful people being carried into a holding pen by police officers, each and every one of them under arrest for terrorism. To find out more about our work on protest rights visit https://www.thelinewecrossed.com
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Thank you for showing us this brilliant small film! I have now donated to Page 75 (the makers), and I’d also like to subscribe to their newsletter but my server blocked me. Just mentioning this in case other JVLers encounter this problem.