Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests

Debate between Kim Johnson and Dan Jarvis

Monday 8th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

The right hon. Gentleman has been a Member of this House for a very, very long time, so he will know that this legislation was not rushed through Parliament. It came through Parliament in the same way that other proscription actions have come through over many, many years.

Let me seek, perhaps, two points of consensus. The first involves freedom of speech. I do not know what the right hon. Gentleman was up to at the weekend, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he may have been on the streets of London, and good luck to him. It is his absolute democratic right to protest in the way in which he is well known for doing. The Government have done nothing to stand in the way of him and his colleagues in that regard. Let me, however, say one more thing to him. Although he and I may disagree on many things, I hope that, as supporters of the trade union movement, we agree on the importance of people’s safety in the workplace. He asked me to consider something; perhaps I should ask him to consider the importance of safeguarding people’s safety and security in the workplace, which is not a matter to which the organisation that we are discussing today has given much consideration.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

Hundreds of people have now been arrested for terror offences, facing up to 14 years’ imprisonment, for no more than peacefully holding a placard. Most are elderly, and many are healthcare workers, priests and ordinary working people. All are prepared to risk severe punishment for doing what our Government have failed to do. The proscription of Palestine Action is an authoritarian attack on the right to protest. It is absurd, unworkable and unsustainable. Will the Minister, and the new Home Secretary, consider the Government’s position?

[Dan Jarvis]

This Government and the new Home Secretary will do everything that is necessary and proportionate to keep the public safe. These are difficult judgments that require very careful consideration. Very careful consideration was given to the decision that was taken, and it was motivated by a very strong desire, and a responsibility, to keep the public safe.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kim Johnson and Dan Jarvis

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

9. If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to protect the right to privacy from live facial recognition surveillance.

[The Minister of State, Home Department (Dan Jarvis)]

Facial recognition technology is being used effectively by police forces to identify suspects more quickly and accurately but, of course, it is essential that any new technologies are accompanied by strong safeguards and are underpinned by a robust legal framework. This Government will give careful consideration to the overall impact of all new policing technology.

[Kim Johnson]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s response, but facial recognition technology is being used by the police in publicly accessible places, and it breaches human rights and discriminates disproportionately against black people. The previous Government failed to introduce legislation to restrict its use, so can my hon. Friend confirm when there will be legislation to protect us? Will he meet me and representatives of civil liberties organisations to discuss this matter further?

[Dan Jarvis]

I understand that the National Physical Laboratory has independently tested the algorithms that the police have been using in live facial recognition cases and has found them to be highly accurate. It found no statistically significant differences based on ethnicity at the settings the police generally use.

It is extremely important that any new technology used by the police is accompanied by strong safeguards, including to prevent bias or disproportionality, and that a robust legal framework is in place to govern the use of these new technologies. My hon. Friend still has concerns, and I am sure the policing Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham (Dame Diana Johnson), or I will be happy to meet her.