Protester’s placard depicting Sunak and Braverman was ‘racially abusive’, court hears

Published

2 months ago

September 12, 2024

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A placard held by a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest showing images of former prime minister Rishi Sunak and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman was “racially abusive”, a court has heard.

Warning: This article contains language some may find offensive

Marieha Hussain, 37, of High Wycombe, pleaded not guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday over the placard depicting the politicians as coconuts.

As the trial began, about 40 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the building.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told the court the term “coconut” was a “well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning”.

“You may be brown on the outside, but you’re white on the inside. In other words, you’re a race traitor – you’re less brown or black than you should be,” he said.

He argued Hussain had “crossed the line between legitimate political expression” and moved into “racial insult”.

“We say that the placard was abusive, it was racially abusive,” he told the court.

“There were people present who were likely to have been caused harassment, alarm and distress by seeing what was on that placard.”

An image of the placard, held by Hussain at a pro-Palestinian protest on 11 November, was shown in court.

It showed cut-out pictures of Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman placed alongside coconuts under a tree.

Defending, Rajiv Menon KC, said the placard was a “political criticism” of Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman.

He told the court: “What she is saying is Suella Braverman – then home secretary, sacked two days after – was promoting in different ways a racist political agenda as evidenced by the Rwanda policy, the racist rhetoric she was using around small boats.

“And the prime minister was either quiescing to it or being inactive.

“It was a political criticism of these two particular politicians.”

Metropolitan Police communications manager Chris Humphreys told the court that images come to the attention of the police service if the force’s social media account is “tagged in the post”.

He added the force “actively monitors” accounts that frequently post protest-related images.

Mr Menon told the court the image of the placard had been posted by an X account with the username Harry’s Place.

He asked Mr Humphreys: “Are you aware that Harry’s Place is a secretive political blog headquartered in Washington DC that has a particular interest in opposing any criticism of the Israeli state?”

Mr Humphreys replied: “I know Harry’s Place is an anonymous political blog.”

The trial continues.

UK

Gatwick Airport: Police release two people who were detained amid security incident as South Terminal reopens

Published

52 mins ago

November 23, 2024

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Gatwick Airport: Police release two people who were detained amid security incident as South Terminal reopens

Two people detained during a security incident at Gatwick Airport have been allowed to continue their journeys after a suspect package saw a “large part” of the South Terminal evacuated.

The terminal was closed for hours after the discovery of a “suspected prohibited item” in a passenger’s luggage sparked an emergency response. It reopened at around 3.45pm.

Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team “made the package safe” before handing the airport back to its operator, Sussex Police said.

Their statement continued: “Two people who were detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys.

“There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel.”

The force also thanked the public and airport staff for their patience while the incident was ongoing.

Earlier the airport, which is the UK’s second busiest, said the terminal was evacuated after a “security incident”.

“The earlier security alert has now been resolved and cleared by police,” it later said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

“The South Terminal is reopening to staff and will be open to passengers shortly.”

Gatwick said some flights were cancelled while others were delayed.

It said passengers should contact their airlines for any updates on flights.

Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of travellers heading away from the terminal building.

“Arrived at London Gatwick for routine connection. Got through customs to find out they’re evacuating the entire airport,” one passenger said.

“Even people through security are being taken outside. Trains shut down,” another passenger added, who said “thousands” of people were forced to leave.

Another passenger said people near the gates were being told to stay there and not go back to the departure lounge.

People outside the airport were handed blankets and water, passengers told Sky News.

The airport said its North Terminal was still operating normally.

Gatwick Express said its trains did not call at Gatwick Airport during the police response, but the airport said trains would start calling there again once the terminal was fully reopened.

More than 600 flights were due to take off or land at Gatwick on Friday, amounting to more than 121,000 passenger seats, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

UK

Starmer says UK will ‘set out a path’ to raise defence spending to 2.5%

Published

4 hours ago

November 23, 2024

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Starmer says UK will 'set out a path' to raise defence spending to 2.5%

The UK will “set out a path” to lift defence spending to 2.5% of national income in the spring, the prime minister has said, finally offering a timeframe for an announcement on the long-awaited hike after mounting criticism.

Sir Keir Starmer gave the date during a phone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, in the wake of threats by Moscow to target UK and US military facilities following a decision by London and Washington to let Ukraine fire their missiles inside Russia.

There was no clarity though on when the 2.5% level will be achieved. The UK says it currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence.

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A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the two men “began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter”.

They also talked about the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia.

“The prime minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on the government’s progress on the strategic defence review,” the spokeswoman said.

“His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring.”

The defence review will also be published in the spring.

While a date for an announcement on 2.5% will be welcomed by the Ministry of Defence, analysts have long warned that such an increase is still well below the amount that is needed to rebuild the armed forces after decades of decline to meet growing global threats from Russia, an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and Iran.

They say the UK needs to be aiming to hit at least 3% – probably higher.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there will be significantly more pressure on the UK and other European NATO allies to accelerate increases in defence spending.