Pearce was elected to parliament in the 2024 general election (UK Parliament)
Jon Pearce opposes British recognition of a Palestinian state and was Labour Friends of Israel chair until appointed to his new role
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed the chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) as his parliamentary private secretary.
Jon Pearce, who was elected as an MP last year, visited Israel and the UAE earlier this year and publicly opposed Britain recognising a Palestinian state unilaterally.
The role of parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the prime minister is conventionally held by backbenchers and is a coveted position, despite being unpaid, for the access it provides to the leader.
Pearce has stepped down from his LFI role to assume his new duty.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
Instead of addressing child poverty, homelessness, poor working conditions or any of the real issues impacting this country, Labour has chosen to deflect the blame and pour billions into arms, says Jeremy Corbyn. Britain is tired of having no political choice – and we’re here to fix that
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Over the past year, the government has continued a programme of austerity and privatisation. It has refused to lift the two-child benefit cap, the single biggest driver of child poverty. It has tried to take away the winter fuel allowance. It has increased the bus fare cap. And it has tried to take away £5bn from disabled people, curating a two-tiered benefit system that deprives thousands of people of a dignified life.
There is one area where the government has been very generous, though: arms spending. Government military spending is now at £31.7bn, which is a 6 per cent increase in real terms from last year. Imagine how much better ordinary people’s lives would be if we spent that money on schools, hospitals and green energy instead.
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People have had enough of a political regime that serves the interests of billionaires and corporations. They have had enough of a government that inflicts suffering at home and enables genocide abroad. They have had enough of broken promises from political parties that fail to deliver real change.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
HEAVY-HANDED: Cops arrest a peaceful protester at Parliament Square last weekend
The Met Police arrested a staggering 890 people, many elderly, disabled, and even blind in a single demonstration — all to back up the government’s unhinged campaign against non-violent civil disobedience at the behest of Israel, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
THE iron fist of the British state is slamming down on those who dare to oppose genocide. In the whole year ending March 31 2025, according to the Home Office website, British police made a total of 232 arrests under the Terrorism Act 2000, a 12 per cent increase on the previous 12 months. The all-time record, according to the same page, for such arrests was 450 in 2018.
Last Saturday, the Metropolitan Police and other forces supporting them arrested at least 890 people at a single demonstration, on top of more than 500 a few weeks earlier. This is the largest mass arrest event by the Metropolitan Police in a decade.
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For supporting a group committed to direct action against British arms manufacturers supplying Israel, ordinary citizens now risk up to 14 years in prison. In the stroke of a pen, the right to protest was obliterated and peaceful dissenters branded as criminals.
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Today, British civil liberties are in the grip of a manufactured crisis. Peaceful citizens — ordinary people, including Jewish anti-genocide activists, pensioners, and scholars — have been redefined as terrorists. Even people in their 80s and 90s joined the civil resistance, proving the heart of popular opposition beats strong as ever. The state’s war is not just on Palestine — it’s on dissent, on assembly, on freedom itself.
It is my view that the real risk is not to national security, but to democracy. Step by step, the British Establishment is dismantling rights won through struggle and sacrifice. This is the opposite of democracy; this is naked authoritarianism. Silence is their weapon. The mass arrests, the legal bans, the kettling of peaceful protest — each tactic designed to intimidate, to silence, to fracture the solidarity needed to confront genocide and imperial complicity.
History is on the side of the people. From the anti-apartheid movement to the miners’ strike and beyond, popular resistance and dissent have always been met with repression — but never defeated.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.Vote Labour for Genocide.
A photographed, posted by the artist himself, of a new Banksy mural that appeared outside the High Court in London on Monday, September 9, 2025. (Photo: Banksy)
“When the law is used as a tool to crush civil liberties, it does not extinguish dissent—it strengthens it,” said the group who faced nearly 900 arrests over the weekend for peaceful protest.
A mural by the world-renowned street artist Banksy depicting a judge magistrate beating a bloodied demonstrator on the ground with his gavel appeared Monday morning outside the Royal Courts of Justice building in London—a piece of commentary on the ongoing controversy surrounding the right to free speech in the UK when it comes to Palestinian rights.
The new artwork, which the artist confirmed was his in an Instagram post, comes amid uproar over a UK government law that has been used to ban individuals and entire groups from protesting under anti-terrorism laws.
On Saturday, nearly 900 people were arrested during a protest led by a group called Defend Our Juries, which has been calling for the lifting of a blanket ban on a separate group, the nonviolent Palestine Action, deemed a terrorist supporter in relation to its advocacy of Palestinian rights and a demand for an end to the genocide in Gaza.
The Met Police reported that 890 people were arrested in total on Saturday. Of those, 857 were arrested for the sole offense of voicing their support for Palestine Action, now a crime in the UK. The other 33 arrests were for various infractions, including 17 for assault of police officers.
Banksy’s artwork was seen as a keen commentary on the subject.
London-based journalist Barry Malone called the piece “extremely powerful,” especially given the context. “The timing, the placement,” he said. “It’s perfect.”
In a statement Sunday about the weekend’s arrest, Amnesty International’s director of campaigns and communications, Kerry Mascogiuri, said the “staggering number of arrests” by police at a “peaceful protest marks a new low for protest rights in this country.”
“It’s completely ridiculous for police to be targeting and arresting people for sitting down, quietly holding a sign,” Mascogiuri said.
Banksy, Royal Courts of Justice, London
Yesterday 857 people were arrested for showing support for Palestine Action – a protest group which has recently been banned in the UK.
Most sat peacefully holding a sign which read “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” pic.twitter.com/WNSVN55eaP
She said observers from Amnesty witnessed how the crowd was “entirely peaceful,” despite some people hurling insults at officers. She said it was a misrepresentation to say that protesters became violent, though some did try to prevent those targeted for arrest from being carried away.
“Police officers, on a number of occasions, were aggressive towards supporters of the protest,” Mascogiuri added. “This included violently shoving people away and pulling out batons to make space whilst protesters were arrested and hauled into police vans.
“Peaceful protest is a fundamental right,” she concluded. “The scenes yesterday were a shocking demonstration of how the UK’s overly broad terrorism laws are being used to suppress free speech.”
Meanwhile, outside the High Court in London on Monday, security guards and metal barriers were promptly dispatched to cover up the mural.
Did we just get a Banksy?
New Banksy showing judge hitting protester with gavel appears on High Court.https://t.co/fuSlsBW4tu
In a statement, a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said the work by Banksy “powerfully depicts the brutality unleashed” on peaceful protesters by the former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who led the prohibition against Palestine Action.
“When the law is used as a tool to crush civil liberties, it does not extinguish dissent–it strengthens it,” the spokesperson continued.
“As Banksy’s artwork shows, the state can try to strip away our civil liberties, but we are too many in number and our resolve to stand against injustice cannot be beaten—our movement against the ban is unstoppable and growing every day,” they said. “We hope everyone who is moved by Banksy’s inspiring work of art will join our next action, which will be announced soon.”
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Police officers detain a protester as demonstrators take part in a Lift the Ban on Palestine Action protest organised by Defend our Juries in Parliament Square in London, September 6, 2025
Campaigners urge new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to drop ‘unenforceable’ ban on Palestine Action
NEW Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is facing growing pressure to scrap the “impossible to enforce” Palestine Action ban after nearly 900 people were arrested in London this weekend.
An estimated 1,500 took part in the 11-hour Lift The Ban rally in Parliament Square on Saturday, as they sat and held signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” with hundreds of others taking part in Scotland.
A human wall of trade unionists and anti-war activists surrounded sign-holders in the action and outside the Westminster government offices in Edinburgh in a “Witness Circle.”
A total of 890 people were arrested in London, with 857 arrests made for showing support for a proscribed group, while 33 people were arrested for allegedly assaulting police officers and other public order offences.
The Met Police condemned the “intolerable abuse” it claims its officers suffered during the protest
The protest saw officers drawing their batons, forcing their way through crowds, carrying arrested protesters — including one wheelchair-using veteran — and having screaming arguments with demonstrators.
One protester was seen with blood streaming down his face.
Organisers Defend Our Juries (DOJ) called on Ms Mahmood to drop the “unenforceable” ban.
A spokesperson said: “The fact that 857 out of 1,500 were arrested and that this took 11 hours, makes a mockery of the ban on Palestine Action and shows once again that it is impossible to enforce.
“Rather than arrest thousands more ordinary citizens … the new Home Secretary must rethink what is becoming Labour’s poll tax moment, which is making the UK the subject of condemnation and ridicule around the world.
“Regarding the Met’s false claims smearing the protesters, this is simply a desperate attempt to deflect from the embarrassment caused to Sir Mark Rowley after he pledged the Met would arrest every person who held [the signs].”
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.Vote Labour for Genocide.
HEAVY-HANDED: Cops arrest a peaceful protester at Parliament Square last weekend
