Baroness Shami Chakrabarti had said Shabana Mahmood should consider outlawing far-right group Patriot Platform under terrorism laws, such as Palestine Action
Voice of the Mirror has its say…
Nothing will corrode public faith in the law faster than the belief that ministers look the other way when intimidation comes from the “wrong” side. Baroness Shami Chakrabarti has raised a question the Government cannot simply brush aside: where exactly is the line between protest, intimidation and conduct serious enough to justify a ban? Palestine Action was proscribed in July 2025. Patriot Platform, meanwhile, has brought masked protesters onto the streets of Dover and Portsmouth and talked of blockading sites housing asylum seekers. These are different organisations with different records, and proscription is an exceptional step carrying grave consequences. That makes consistency all the more important. People must be able to trust that the law is enforced according to conduct, rather than which cause happens to be involved. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood now faces a serious test. The Government must clearly explain where that threshold lies, examine the Patriot Platform against it, and act without fear or favour. Public confidence depends on one standard applying to everyone.
Yes we Nissan
Nissan has been building cars in Sunderland for 40 years. Its decision to invest another £170 million and bring production of the Kicks hybrid to Wearside shows exactly why. Twelve million cars have rolled off those production lines since the first Bluebird in 1986, powered by the skill, graft and expertise of generations of North East workers. In a world where manufacturers can choose almost anywhere to invest, Nissan has chosen Sunderland again. That is a tremendous vote of confidence in British workers and British manufacturing, and the rest of the country should take heart from it. Britain can still build things brilliantly. Give communities skilled jobs, investment and the chance to compete, and they will deliver. Sunderland has proved it for four decades. Britain should believe in itself just as strongly.
Fitting tribute
Just two days after losing his father to dementia, Andy Burnham is back at work, carrying a grief millions of families will understand. He says his dad would have wanted him “back out there”, pursuing the changes he always urged him to make. Few tributes could be more fitting than turning loss into action.
