26th Anniversary of the Terrorism Act 2000: Police Powers against Right to Resist and the Decision-Making Power of the People
Source: http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-04/ww26-04-02.htm
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:16
26th Anniversary of the Terrorism Act 2000: Police Powers against Right to
Resist and the Decision-Making Power of the People
Volume 56 Number 4, February 14,
2026
ARCHIVE
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JBCENTRE
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26th Anniversary of the
Terrorism Act 2000
Police
Powers against Right to Resist and the Decision-Making Power of the
People
High Court, London, 13/02/2026
This Saturday, February 14, marks twenty-six years since the Terrorism Act
2000 came into force. This inaugurated a new and permanent stage in the
anti-democratic direction of the British state. In the wake of the Good Friday
Agreement, with its challenge to British colonial rule in Ireland, the British
state and establishment responded with legislation for police powers to
permanently attempt to criminalise the people's resistance. It was an
unconscionable aim to move from the temporary, reactive legislation to a
permanent, comprehensive "anti-terrorism" statute for the 21st
century [1].
The Terrorism Act was introduced under Tony Blair and the New Labour
government as the champion of police powers behind the throne. It was permanent
legislation to rip away the last mask of "civil liberties" and
implement the means by which the state attempts to maintain its rule, a rule
that was being challenged in Ireland, Britain and around the world by the
movements of the working class and people for their rights, their security and
ultimately the achievement of their own decision-making power. It was an Act
presaging the developments of the 21st century in which, as Tony Blair
emphasised after 9/11, the main enemy at home and abroad was declared to be
"mass terrorism".
Far from being an Act, as it describes itself, to "protect the
public", it has served as a cornerstone of a state architecture of police
powers, used to suppress dissent and to intimidate the people. Most recently,
this has been so starkly revealed in the summary arrests and imprisonment of
the youth, the journalists and all the people opposing the Israeli genocide of
the Palestinians.
Following the Terrorism Act 2000, the Labour, Coalition, and the
Conservative governments have all expanded, amended, and fortified this Act.
Each revision having been justified with the same list of excuses in the name
of "security", "extremism" and "national
interest". Over these decades the Terrorism Act has been supplemented by a
whole arsenal of repressive measures:
The 2006 Act, attacking speech and association.
The 2011 and 2015 Acts, embedding surveillance into every sphere of life.
The "Prevent" strategy, targeting youth, educators, and entire
communities.
The 2019 and 2023 amendments, further entrenching arbitrary detention and
secret evidence.
Presented as "closing loopholes", each new measure has opened the
floodgates to the criminalisation of protest, the harassment of political
activists, and the intimidation of entire communities - particularly Muslims,
migrants, and those who stand in solidarity with the peoples resisting
imperialist aggression in the anti-war movements of the people.
London
Yet the lived experience of the people shows that these words are nothing
but a cloak for the arbitrary exercise of state power against their rights and
their interests and the arbitrary power of the Home Secretary. This experience
has thoroughly exposed the police powers of the Act, especially with the huge
upsurge of the movement to support the Palestinian people and oppose Britain's
support and arming of Israel's genocide in Gaza. This is where the arbitrary
use of this Act against the people has been further exposed for what it is - a
criminalisation of dissent that has nothing to do with security of the people.
The Act has been used by the Home Secretary to arrest peaceful demonstrators
for chanting slogans, displaying Palestinian flags and then - with the
proscription of Palestine Action as a "terrorist" organisation in
2025 - for resistance actions against criminal Israeli and British arms
industries. The arms manufacturers include Elbit and Rafael, which have been
involved in supplying and sending weapons to bomb and kill tens of thousands of
men, women, children and babies in Gaza for over two years. This has all added
to the British support for the crimes of the Israeli regime against
Palestinians for over 70 years. Furthermore, this terrorist law has also been
used over recent months to arrest peaceful demonstrators, many of them
pensioners and disabled, in their thousands for peacefully displaying signs
that oppose these arbitrary powers of the state to ban Palestine Action and
those who support the Palestinian people.
In fact, for twenty-six years, the Terrorism Act has been wielded to serve
not only domestic repression but also the international aims of British
imperialism. The measures in the Act have been constantly used in the support
for the Anglo-US invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and their military
interventions bombing Libya and Syria and more recently in their escalation of
their proxy war as part of NATO against Russia. They have used the Terrorism
Act to detain and raid the homes of journalists who stand with Palestine and
expose Britain's support in weapons, logistics and intelligence for Israel's
war crimes. At the same time, they use the legislation to attack journalists
who oppose and expose Britain's involvement and dangerous escalation of NATO's
war and its opposition to peace between Ukraine and Russia.
The people reject the criminalisation of the exercise of their rights. The
working class and people have never accepted the narrative that these laws are
for their protection. They have seen how the state uses "terrorism"
as a pretext to ban demonstrations, impose exclusion zones, detain progressive
people without charge, seize devices and documents and try to silence those who
expose and resist the crimes of the warmongers. The people have also seen how
the real threats to their lives - poverty, war, privatisation, the destruction
of public services - are ignored or intensified by the very governments that
claim to be acting in their name.
A New Direction Is Needed
On this twenty-sixth anniversary, the task before the working class and
people is not simply to condemn the Terrorism Act, but to take up the struggle
for a modern democratic society and democratic renewal. Rights belong to the
people by virtue of being human and are not based on political views, ideology,
religion or race or any other consideration. Security is defined by defending
the well-being of the people and the rights of all. The peoples have the right
to live in a peaceful world, where conflicts are resolved through international
co-operation and negotiation among peoples and countries. Security does not lie
with these warmongers and their war preparations. Nor does it lie with the
prerogatives of the rich, their arms manufactures and their spheres of
contention that fuel division and wars among countries, nationalities and
peoples.
The Terrorism Act 2000 [2] and its continued arming as a weapon against the
people stands as a grotesque monument to a ruling class that fears the people,
and must be dismantled. Its continued existence is incompatible with the
aspirations of a society in which the people are the decision-makers. Let the
26th anniversary be a call to action. The working class and people must
continue to organise, speak out, and resist all attempts to criminalise their
struggles. The future does not belong to those who wield police powers in
defence of a decaying order. It belongs to the people who are fighting for a
society that affirms their rights, their dignity, and their sovereignty. The
Terrorism Act must be repealed. The anti-people direction of the state must be
dismantled and reversed, and the people must continue to speak in their own
name for the new in society. This is the democracy that only they can bring
into being.
Notes
1. The Terrorism Act 2000 replaced previous legislation that was a of a
temporary nature. Firstly, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which had been
rushed through the House of Commons in November 1974 after the Birmingham
bombings, and had to be renewed annually. This Act was re-enacted in 1989,
again to be annually reviewed, but casting its net wider. There was also the
Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996, which was due to lapse in
August 2000. The Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act of 1998 was
another Act rushed through parliament, this time in response to the Omagh
bombing, and this again had to be renewed annually.
2. Terrorism Act 2000 ("Terrorism Act 2000 is up to date with all changes
known to be in force on or before 12 February 2026. There are changes that may
be brought into force at a future date")
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/contents
Link to Full Issue of Workers'
Weekly
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive
Resist and the Decision-Making Power of the People
Volume 56 Number 4, February 14,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
26th Anniversary of the
Terrorism Act 2000
Police
Powers against Right to Resist and the Decision-Making Power of the
People
High Court, London, 13/02/2026
This Saturday, February 14, marks twenty-six years since the Terrorism Act
2000 came into force. This inaugurated a new and permanent stage in the
anti-democratic direction of the British state. In the wake of the Good Friday
Agreement, with its challenge to British colonial rule in Ireland, the British
state and establishment responded with legislation for police powers to
permanently attempt to criminalise the people's resistance. It was an
unconscionable aim to move from the temporary, reactive legislation to a
permanent, comprehensive "anti-terrorism" statute for the 21st
century [1].
The Terrorism Act was introduced under Tony Blair and the New Labour
government as the champion of police powers behind the throne. It was permanent
legislation to rip away the last mask of "civil liberties" and
implement the means by which the state attempts to maintain its rule, a rule
that was being challenged in Ireland, Britain and around the world by the
movements of the working class and people for their rights, their security and
ultimately the achievement of their own decision-making power. It was an Act
presaging the developments of the 21st century in which, as Tony Blair
emphasised after 9/11, the main enemy at home and abroad was declared to be
"mass terrorism".
Far from being an Act, as it describes itself, to "protect the
public", it has served as a cornerstone of a state architecture of police
powers, used to suppress dissent and to intimidate the people. Most recently,
this has been so starkly revealed in the summary arrests and imprisonment of
the youth, the journalists and all the people opposing the Israeli genocide of
the Palestinians.
Following the Terrorism Act 2000, the Labour, Coalition, and the
Conservative governments have all expanded, amended, and fortified this Act.
Each revision having been justified with the same list of excuses in the name
of "security", "extremism" and "national
interest". Over these decades the Terrorism Act has been supplemented by a
whole arsenal of repressive measures:
The 2006 Act, attacking speech and association.
The 2011 and 2015 Acts, embedding surveillance into every sphere of life.
The "Prevent" strategy, targeting youth, educators, and entire
communities.
The 2019 and 2023 amendments, further entrenching arbitrary detention and
secret evidence.
Presented as "closing loopholes", each new measure has opened the
floodgates to the criminalisation of protest, the harassment of political
activists, and the intimidation of entire communities - particularly Muslims,
migrants, and those who stand in solidarity with the peoples resisting
imperialist aggression in the anti-war movements of the people.
London
Yet the lived experience of the people shows that these words are nothing
but a cloak for the arbitrary exercise of state power against their rights and
their interests and the arbitrary power of the Home Secretary. This experience
has thoroughly exposed the police powers of the Act, especially with the huge
upsurge of the movement to support the Palestinian people and oppose Britain's
support and arming of Israel's genocide in Gaza. This is where the arbitrary
use of this Act against the people has been further exposed for what it is - a
criminalisation of dissent that has nothing to do with security of the people.
The Act has been used by the Home Secretary to arrest peaceful demonstrators
for chanting slogans, displaying Palestinian flags and then - with the
proscription of Palestine Action as a "terrorist" organisation in
2025 - for resistance actions against criminal Israeli and British arms
industries. The arms manufacturers include Elbit and Rafael, which have been
involved in supplying and sending weapons to bomb and kill tens of thousands of
men, women, children and babies in Gaza for over two years. This has all added
to the British support for the crimes of the Israeli regime against
Palestinians for over 70 years. Furthermore, this terrorist law has also been
used over recent months to arrest peaceful demonstrators, many of them
pensioners and disabled, in their thousands for peacefully displaying signs
that oppose these arbitrary powers of the state to ban Palestine Action and
those who support the Palestinian people.
In fact, for twenty-six years, the Terrorism Act has been wielded to serve
not only domestic repression but also the international aims of British
imperialism. The measures in the Act have been constantly used in the support
for the Anglo-US invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and their military
interventions bombing Libya and Syria and more recently in their escalation of
their proxy war as part of NATO against Russia. They have used the Terrorism
Act to detain and raid the homes of journalists who stand with Palestine and
expose Britain's support in weapons, logistics and intelligence for Israel's
war crimes. At the same time, they use the legislation to attack journalists
who oppose and expose Britain's involvement and dangerous escalation of NATO's
war and its opposition to peace between Ukraine and Russia.
The people reject the criminalisation of the exercise of their rights. The
working class and people have never accepted the narrative that these laws are
for their protection. They have seen how the state uses "terrorism"
as a pretext to ban demonstrations, impose exclusion zones, detain progressive
people without charge, seize devices and documents and try to silence those who
expose and resist the crimes of the warmongers. The people have also seen how
the real threats to their lives - poverty, war, privatisation, the destruction
of public services - are ignored or intensified by the very governments that
claim to be acting in their name.
A New Direction Is Needed
On this twenty-sixth anniversary, the task before the working class and
people is not simply to condemn the Terrorism Act, but to take up the struggle
for a modern democratic society and democratic renewal. Rights belong to the
people by virtue of being human and are not based on political views, ideology,
religion or race or any other consideration. Security is defined by defending
the well-being of the people and the rights of all. The peoples have the right
to live in a peaceful world, where conflicts are resolved through international
co-operation and negotiation among peoples and countries. Security does not lie
with these warmongers and their war preparations. Nor does it lie with the
prerogatives of the rich, their arms manufactures and their spheres of
contention that fuel division and wars among countries, nationalities and
peoples.
The Terrorism Act 2000 [2] and its continued arming as a weapon against the
people stands as a grotesque monument to a ruling class that fears the people,
and must be dismantled. Its continued existence is incompatible with the
aspirations of a society in which the people are the decision-makers. Let the
26th anniversary be a call to action. The working class and people must
continue to organise, speak out, and resist all attempts to criminalise their
struggles. The future does not belong to those who wield police powers in
defence of a decaying order. It belongs to the people who are fighting for a
society that affirms their rights, their dignity, and their sovereignty. The
Terrorism Act must be repealed. The anti-people direction of the state must be
dismantled and reversed, and the people must continue to speak in their own
name for the new in society. This is the democracy that only they can bring
into being.
Notes
1. The Terrorism Act 2000 replaced previous legislation that was a of a
temporary nature. Firstly, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which had been
rushed through the House of Commons in November 1974 after the Birmingham
bombings, and had to be renewed annually. This Act was re-enacted in 1989,
again to be annually reviewed, but casting its net wider. There was also the
Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996, which was due to lapse in
August 2000. The Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act of 1998 was
another Act rushed through parliament, this time in response to the Omagh
bombing, and this again had to be renewed annually.
2. Terrorism Act 2000 ("Terrorism Act 2000 is up to date with all changes
known to be in force on or before 12 February 2026. There are changes that may
be brought into force at a future date")
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/contents
Link to Full Issue of Workers'
Weekly
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive