Letter

Whose Free Speech?

Dear HIP

Helena Dollimore MP and Grumpy Cook owner Barry Ashley are right to criticise the Reform-run East Sussex County Council (ESCC) for ending holiday meal vouchers for some of the poorest families in East Sussex (Reform in Reverse, HIP 308).

Moreover, ESCC’s leader, Andy Woolley, has made himself a laughing stock by threatening to report them both to the police for this criticism.

However, Ms Dollimore’s attempt to chide Reform for its hypocrisy on free speech (“I know that Reform UK includes ‘defence of free speech’ as amongst its policies”) is a case of the kettle calling the pot black.

After all, it was only last year that Ms Dollimore joined Nigel Farage and Andy Burnham to proscribe the nonviolent protest group Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act, thereby introducing severe restrictions on the free speech of everyone in the UK. For example, there is now only one legally permissible answer to the question “Do you support Palestine Action?”

As you yourselves report, two local pensioners are now facing a possible 14-year jail sentence for uttering an entirely innocuous 12-word sentence in public.

If Ms Dollimore has really had a Damascene conversion to the cause of free speech, then this should be welcomed. But if that’s the case, then her next step must be to publicly renounce her decision to ban Palestine Action and to call on Andy Burnham’s government to reverse this appalling decision.

Gabriel Carlyle

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Palestine Action Ban

Dear HIP,

We the undersigned, residents of Hastings, Rye and St Leonards, have all been arrested under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, for publicly displaying signs bearing the words ”I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.

The decision to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act not only banned a nonviolent protest group on bogus grounds, but also introduced severe restrictions on the free speech of everyone in the UK. For example, there is now only one legally-permissible answer to the question “Do you support Palestine Action?”.

This has already led to 2,700 arrests of entirely peaceful protestors, including ourselves, and in Amnesty International launching its first ever urgent action regarding the right to protest in the UK.

Moreover, eight Palestine Action-linked prisoners are now on hunger strike – and two have been hospitalised – as a direct result of this absurd and deeply authoritarian law.

Our MP, Helena Dollimore, voted for this legislation and now looks set to vote in favour of still further restrictions on the right to protest.

We therefore challenge her to meet with us and defend her actions on film – including her refusal to acknowledge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and her continued support for UK arms sales to Israel.

Yours sincerely,

Fernando Bauza, Gabriel Carlyle, Jane Carey, Sarah Evans, Nina Heaton, Simon Hester, Marnie Johnson, David Polden, Emily Price, Ian Stewart, Jenny Sutton, Carl Turner, Lorna Vahey.

We would love to hear from you.

letters@hastingsindependentpress.co.uk
facebook.com/hastingsindependent
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_{HIP does not endorse the views on the Letters page. They are solely those of the writer.Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is necessary for the protection of the writer}

A childminder has been arrested for alleged criminal damage with a rock after writing in chalk on the road during a protest, while a St Leonards man is waiting to hear if he will be charged under the terrorism act after his arrest at a London demonstration.

46-year-old Grace Lally spent seven hours in police custody following her detention outside the General Dynamics arms factory in Hastings before being released on police bail pending further investigation. The protest was organised by the Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign who said Ms Lally was in the process of writing ‘Stop Arms to Israel’ and ‘Stop Genocide’ in chalk on the ground outside the factory.

In a separate incident, 51-year-old Gabriel Carlyle was among 29 people arrested at a demonstration in Parliament Square. They were protesting against the government’s decision to outlaw Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. He is currently on bail waiting to hear if he will be charged with a terrorism offence. Mr Carlyle was carrying a sign ‘referencing’ Palestine Action. It also contained the words ‘I support nonviolence’ and ‘I oppose genocide’. Amnesty International has condemned the Government’s decision to ban Palestine Action under anti-terror laws, as an ‘unprecedented legal overreach.’ The vote in parliament was supported by Hastings MP Helena Dollimore.

There have been dozens of protests outside the main site of the arms manufacturer’s factory in Castleham Road, St Leonards. Ms Lally was told by police that General Dynamics might need to “retarmac the road” because of her actions. Earlier this year, as HIP reported, three protesters were acquitted after being arrested in a previous demonstration at General Dynamics. The ‘Hastings Three’, as they became known, were found not guilty of aggravated trespass after a peaceful sit-down protest in 2024.

As we went to press, Hastings Borough Council was due to debate a call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire to stop the catastrophic loss of life in Gaza and the West Bank and the return of all hostages. And to urge the UK government to: Immediately cease all arms sales and military support to Israel.” A previous council meeting was abandoned in March last year after protests that a Green Party motion on Gaza would not be debated. Following local council elections that summer, the Green Party now runs the council through a minority administration. HBC owns the site of the General Dynamics factory and is under pressure to revoke the lease on the grounds that the company is involved in ‘illegal or immoral’ activities.