Mark

Mr Burnham, Silencing dissent did not use to be a British value. And certainly not a Labour value! I know something about being banned. In 2024, the German state banned me from political activity on its soil, even by video link. My crime was helping organise a congress in Berlin congress, along with German Jews, about the genocide in Gaza. So I write as someone who has seen at first hand how quickly a liberal democracy sheds its liberalism once the subject turns to Palestine. Now the UK government has banned Andreas Malm, a respected Swedish academic and author, from entering Britain to speak at the launch of Tribune. For generations, Tribune has given a voice to democrats, socialists and anyone who refuses to accept injustice as the natural order. Keeping one of Europe's important thinkers away from its platform is an act of political censorship, plain and simple. Andy Burnham's admirers like to think of him as the cuddly antidote to Keir Starmer's stone cold managerialism. This decision shows otherwise. When it comes to silencing those who stand up against the genocide of Palestinians, the new Prime Minister is just as authoritarian and just as callous as the man he replaced. Only the smile is different. Lift the ban. Let Andreas Malm speak. And let Tribune hold its launch without the state deciding who may address it. theguardian.com/uk-news/2026…