BY NILLY BROOK
THE National Security (State Threats) Bill was rushed through parliament on Wednesday, advancing authoritarianism at home and signalling greater violence abroad.
Offences related to the bill include expressing a supportive opinion for a proscribed body, carrying a maximum terrorism sentence of 14 years in prison.
Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood fast tracked the bill declaring a state of emergency following attacks on Jewish targets.
The government explicitly cited the stabbing of two Jewish men, failing to mention the attacker’s long history of mental illness or the fact that he stabbed a Muslim man earlier that day.
None of the victims suffered serious injuries, yet the government pins the security of the UK on this incident rather than its allegiance to an unhinged, volatile, unregulated nuclear armed, genocidal state.
Starmer and Mahmood’s other flimsy hysteria rests on the ambulance arson attack and other questionable events (please refer to David Miller’s article in Mint Press ‘How a Fake Iranian Group was Invented to Proscribe the IRCG in Europe – the Story of Ashab Al-Yamin)’.
The government of course displays none of this urgency when Mohammad Reza, a British-Iranian anti-war protester was stabbed by one of those on a counter-protest nearby, outside Downing Street, an attack that was enabled by the poor policing of the Met.
The timing of this bill speaks volumes. This bill has nothing to do with the professed desire to protect the security of people in the UK and everything to do with silencing any political discourse; discourse that the British establishment are right to fear.
The establishment are terrified of the questions that will be asked and the awakening that will arise, when the global economic crisis hits our shores to full effect.
This economic crisis – just like the illegal war on Iran, just like the 32 months of genocide in Gaza and the genocidal war in Lebanon – is a consequence of Israel’s murder cult; a cult that our ruling class, our media, cultural and civic institutions are thoroughly embroiled in.
Iran is fighting for its survival in an illegal war of choice; it has every right to defend its sovereignty and to use its leverage in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran is defending its borders within the bounds of international law without having to resort to bombing girls’ schools or other civilian life.
This idea, that Iran is a threat to UK security, is a feeble attempt to avert our attention from the war crimes of our government, war crimes that are catapulting back to the UK in the form of economic collapse.
Not only is Iran a country that has survived under maximum pressure sanctions for decades; they are successfully defending their borders and using their leverage to stand for the people of Gaza and Lebanon. Lebanon is mentioned three times in the recent memorandum of understanding.
No deal with Iran will be sustainable without the guarantee of Lebanon’s security. Anyone that professes to stand with the people of Palestine and Lebanon and the financial survival of people in the UK, must acknowledge the strategic importance of Iran in the fight for justice.
To do otherwise is revealing. It’s no surprise that the mainstream, right wing parties (Labour, Lib Dems, Tories and Reform) cheered on the National Security Bill.
The Green Party’s positioning however, has left them on shaky ground yet again. Prior to the bill’s day in the commons, Green MP Ellie Chowns declared that she planned to vote in favour of the bill; a move that would make the Green Party complicit in the violence of US imperial oppression.
Ashok Kumar, a Green Party member and lecturer, expressed his disappointment with the Green Party’s support of the bill: ‘Iran is the only country in the world that is materially supporting any resistance to Israeli terrorism – from Lebanon to Palestine to Yemen.
‘They’ve just been the victim of four months of imperial terrorism and 50 years of economic terrorism.
‘The only reason they’re being proscribed is because they are the only counterweight to Israel.
‘The only purpose of this law is to support more war crimes against the Iranian people and to round up anyone here who opposes those war crimes, under the charge of terrorism.’
The Greens for Palestine faction within the Green Party pressured Chowns to vote against the bill arguing that the IRGC acts as a defence force in Iran, and banning the group would equate to supporting Israeli military actions in the region.
If Ellie Chowns wants to ‘bring down people’s bills now’, she needs to develop an honest narrative that can effectively discuss the root of the economic crisis emerging from the war on west Asia.
Playing along with the establishment’s games is a huge disservice to the swathes of activists that joined the Green Party as a vehicle for change.
The Green Party’s shaky positioning on Palestine is nothing new – whether it’s the derailing of the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion or the suspension of election candidates and councillors over allegations of antisemitism – this evasive pandering to the mechanisms of power must stop.
Zack Polanski’s proposals at the London Assembly on March 5th, 2026, are also very concerning.
Polanski proposed Urgent Motion 2 welcoming the ‘removal’ of Iran’s Supreme Leader and citing unfounded data surrounding January’s attempted coup in Iran (refer to Iran’s Coalition’s Fact Sheet: The January 2026 Armed Riots in Iran https://handsoffiran.net/fact-sheet-the-january-2026-armed-riots-in-iran/).
It should be noted that the assassination of a state leader is illegal under international law.
Iran has served a severe blow to the genocidal regime of Israel. As western governments continue to offer military and financial support to Israel and fail to impose effective sanctions to halt the murder; any professed mobilisation for Palestine must prove its worth and stand with the genuine forces for justice – or step aside.
Awareness has grown, transparent virtue signalling will be exposed. We need to build an anti-imperialist, anti-establishment alliance that will keep the neo-liberal leanings of the Green Party (and the movement in general) in check.
Activist emails and letters stopped the Green MPs from supporting the National Security bill; a bill that has wider authoritarian implications than the ones discussed here.
Details surrounding clause three, that clearly adds proscription of the IRGC to the bill, was supported by four of the five Green MPs (Ellie Chowns abstained).
This is not solidarity and the Green’s efforts to dupe activists should concern everyone standing for Palestine. We’re watching and we won’t be silenced or fooled.