Burnham says Labour got Gaza wrong but what about the Filton 25 asks Caitlin Barr
Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour getting Gaza wrong. He has admitted that the party was too slow to call for a ceasefire and says Britain needs to put more pressure on the Israeli government. It is a significant admission. But an apology only means so much when the consequences of getting it wrong are still being felt.
Ellie Kamio, Lottie Head, Sam Corner and Fatema Zainab Rajwani are one example.
Earlier this summer, four Palestine Action activists were sentenced to a combined 26 years in prison after taking part in an action at an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, Bristol, in August 2024, alongside 21 other activists. They were convicted of criminal damage, with Corner also convicted of grievous bodily harm after a police officer was injured.
They were not convicted of terrorism. Nevertheless, Judge Jeremy Johnson, who notably represented West Midlands Police during the Hillsborough inquests, decided at sentencing that their criminal damage had a “terrorist connection” because the action was intended to influence the government, intimidate a section of the public and advance a political cause.
The political motivation was hardly a secret. They were protesting against an arms company because they believed its equipment was being used in Israel’s war in Gaza. They wanted to disrupt its production. Now, that political motivation is part of the reasoning for treating their criminal damage as having a terrorist connection.
The jury was not told that a terrorism-related enhancement could later be applied. The defence was prevented from arguing necessity, while restrictions prevented the defendants from properly discussing the context of the war in Gaza, including the use of terminology like “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”. Several eventually dismissed their lawyers and represented themselves because they felt it was the only way to speak freely.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 2025, after the Filton action had already happened. Thousands have since been arrested for supporting the group. Burnham says Labour got Gaza wrong. But what does that mean for the people who were protesting while Labour was getting it wrong?
Does it mean reconsidering the use of terrorism legislation against political activists? Looking again at Palestine Action’s proscription? Or does it simply mean changing the language politicians use when discussing Gaza?
Kamio, Corner, Head and Rajwani should be remembered for more than their extraordinary bravery and prison sentences. They’re a terrifying example of what happens when political dissent collides with the power of the state in an increasingly hostile environment for people taking direct action for what they believe in.
While Judge Johnson represented the police at Hillsborough, Burnham campaigned for the families and gave evidence to Parliament’s Hillsborough Law inquiry. The government has since acknowledged the “double injustice” suffered by the families and the institutional defensiveness that obstructed the search for truth.
Institutions do not become infallible simply because they are institutions. We can, and should, demand scrutiny, fair jury trials, and protection for our right to protest war crimes. If Burnham really believes Labour failed, this is where he should start working out what doing better actually means.