The growth of repression and campaigns for the defence of the democratic state

The Labour government’s legal proscription of the direct action group Palestine Action (PA) as a “terrorist organisation” mark a new stage in strengthening the repressive apparatus of the British capitalist state. Faced with growing military tensions on the international level, and the threat of domestic social unrest, the bourgeoisie and all its parties are sharpening both their ideological and material weapons. Weapons like these new powers will be used against workers’ struggles and revolutionary organisations in the future.

These new legal measures mean that you can get 14 years in prison for supporting PA in any way. Internationally the bourgeoisie is reinforcing its repressive apparatus and actions. In the US the actions of ICE against migrant workers, the sending of the National Guard to Los Angeles against demonstrations, in Washington DC the National Guard being brought in against the homeless and others, in Germany the repressive apparatus being used against Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists: these are among many examples from the biggest economies in the world, not from countries being laid waste by conflict.

Since the proscription of Palestine Action in early July there have been many protests and demonstrations, from open letters from distinguished academics and intellectuals to editorials saying how it’s disproportionate to put PA in the same category as Al Qaida and Islamic State, to a series of demonstrations where people in their 60s and 70s held up supportive signs. This was most extensive on 10 August when more than 500 protesters were arrested in London. The indignation provoked by this acceleration of repression has led to more massive demonstrations called by leftist organisations for the beginning of September, to display “mass defiance” in support of Palestine Action and the Palestinian cause.

Treating protest as terrorism is just one example of increased state repression. We have also witnessed the increasingly harsh treatment of immigrants – from tougher measures against the those coming over the Channel in small boats, to multiple threats of deportation. In its attempts to out-racist Reform UK, the Labour government has now changed the immigration rules, which could be used against tube workers in London and result in their deportation.

From its beginnings in 2020, PA has made direct action attacks against targets that could be linked to support for the Israeli military at various war industry or military locations.  Other actions have been directed at symbolic targets, such as the destruction of a portrait of Balfour at Trinity College in Dublin 2024. Through these ‘exemplary actions’ they have got full media coverage and support from different leftist and pro-Palestinian groups and publications. The proscription of direct action protests as terrorism does not reflect the significance of PA’s activities, but tells us a lot about the state of capitalist society. It is clear that this draconian measure from the Labour government is a new step in the escalation of repression. We remember the 1970s and 80s, when terrorist groups like the RAF in Germany, Brigate Rosse in Italy, and Irish Republicans were subject to repression and punishment from the bourgeois state. But today’s use of such repressive measures is a new phenomenon which is a sign of desperation from a bourgeoisie which is increasingly losing control of its political machinery. Just as with the examples of Trump in the US and the attacks on immigrant workers all over Europe, the new level of repression by the state will not be temporary but will increase everywhere, not just in the illiberal countries in the former East but in the heart of the liberal democracies of Western Europe.

Palestine Action is part of the war campaign

As revolutionaries we denounce state repression, but we also denounce a group like Palestine Action because it is clearly a part of the left of capital: it is a leftist group trying to play a role in the inter-imperialist conflict between Israel and Hamas and its various backers, Iran in particular. The struggle of the working class has nothing to do with the spectacular publicity stunts of this group. The activist vision of political work, focusing on civil disobedience and exemplary acts, shows clearly that this group is a part of the bourgeois media campaign.

The reaction to the proscription and the threat of 14 years in prison for demonstrating has stirred up reactions from liberal and leftist media all over Europe, as the Labour Home Secretary makes claims of “disturbing” information about future attacks from PA. This is no coincidence. The aim of this campaign of protest is to focus on the defence of the democratic state and to try to draw the working class into it. There is widespread indignation at what Labour has done and a fear of possible future state actions, and the campaign can draw workers away from their own class terrain of struggle by spreading the illusion that capitalism could be made to be less militaristic, less repressive.

The worsening of repression is a reality for the working class already. The situation for immigrant workers today in Britain threatened with deportation shows that the only way forward for the working class is not to get taken up in bourgeois campaigns, but in the struggle as a class, as it has done since the “Summer of Discontent” in 2022. Reflecting on past struggles, fighting in defence of their own interests, is the only way forward for workers, with the ultimate aim of putting an end to this decomposing capitalist society that has nothing to offer humanity except wars, famine, destruction and terror.

Edvin/Narl