Author Statement on the Right to Freedom of Speech

27 June 2025

This statement closed for signatures at 5pm, 2/07/2025

We are writers, editors, publishers and organisations who care about freedom of expression. Between us we hold a range of views on various cultural and geopolitical issues.

We are united by a fierce commitment to freedom of expression and assembly. It is this freedom that allows us to write and, for this reason, it is our responsibility to defend it.

We call on Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to immediately halt their unprecedented plans to proscribe the non-violent direct action group, Palestine Action.

What is at stake here is the very principle of freedom of political expression as we know it in the UK. Whether we as individuals support Palestine Action is irrelevant: we oppose their proscription on principle.

Civil disobedience is not ‘terrorism’, as history shows us, from the suffragettes to Martin Luther King Jr. It is the right of all citizens in a democracy. In 2004, Keir Starmer made this very argument when he represented an activist who sabotaged a military aircraft, making the case that his actions were lawful because they aimed to prevent an ‘illegal war’.

Legal and human rights groups, such as Amnesty, Greenpeace and Liberty, have been clear that the proscription of Palestine Action threatens the right to protest in the UK.

This statement is organised by Fossil Free Books and supported by:

  1. A K Blakemore
  2. A.F. Harrold
  3. Abla Kandalaft
  4. Adam Barrett
  5. Adam Farrer
  6. Adam Lowe
  7. Adam Weymouth
  8. Adele Walton
  9. Adelheid Bjornlie
  10. Adura Onashile
  11. Afua Hirsch
  12. Agata Bogacka
  13. Agnes Monod-Gayraud
  14. Aidan Cottrell Boyce
  15. Aileen Lees
  16. Aimee Walsh
  17. Aja Barber
  18. Akala
  19. Akila Richards
  20. Alan Hollinghurst
  21. Alan Pottage
  22. Alan Trotter
  23. aleksander aleksander
  24. Alessandra Thom
  25. Alex Allison
  26. Alex Doherty
  27. Alex Morss
  28. Alex Mullarky
  29. Alex Niven
  30. Alexandra Sheppard
  31. Alia Alzougbi
  32. Alice Jolly
  33. Alice Nuttall
  34. Alice Oseman
  35. Alice Slater
  36. Alice Willitts
  37. Alinah Azadeh
  38. Alycia Pirmohamed
  39. Alys Fowler
  40. Alyson Kissner
  41. Amaan Hyder
  42. Amanda Addison
  43. Amber Lone
  44. Amber Massie-Blomfield
  45. Amrit Wilson
  46. Amy Key
  47. Amy Liptrot
  48. Amy Phung
  49. Amy-Jane Beer
  50. Anachie Gordon
  51. Andrea White
  52. Andrés N. Ordorica
  53. Andrew Cowan
  54. Andrew Simms
  55. Angela Hui
  56. Angela Smith
  57. Ania Bas
  58. Anna Abney
  59. Anna Doherty
  60. Anna Fleming
  61. Anna Haslock
  62. Anna James
  63. Anna Landre
  64. Anna Maughan
  65. Anna Parker
  66. Anna Sulan Masing
  67. Anna Terreros-Martin
  68. Annie Hayter
  69. Annie Hodson
  70. Annie Lord
  71. Annie Rutherford
  72. Annie siddons
  73. Annie Taylor
  74. Anouchka Grose
  75. Anthony Anaxagorou
  76. Anthony Shapland
  77. Anthony V. Capildeo
  78. Aoife Greenham
  79. Arden Jones
  80. Athena Kugblenu
  81. Atmos
  82. Azad Ashim Sharma
  83. Barbie Lawrie
  84. Bella Milroy
  85. Benjamin Barra
  86. Benjamin Myers
  87. Beth Frieden
  88. Bethany Celyn
  89. Bethany Slinn
  90. Bethany Thompson
  91. Bilal Hasna
  92. Blue Kirkhope
  93. Bob Dickinson
  94. Books Against Borders
  95. Bradley Waller
  96. Brian Dillon
  97. BRIAN ENO
  98. Brian Lewis
  99. Bridget Minamore
  100. Brogen Murphy
  101. Bryony Littlefair
  102. Cailean Steed
  103. Caitlín Doherty
  104. Caleb Klaces
  105. Callan Anderson
  106. Camilla Whitehill
  107. Caro Clarke
  108. Carole Aubree-Dumont
  109. Caroline Lucas
  110. Carolynn Bain
  111. Carrie Marshall
  112. Carsten Timmermann
  113. Caspar Salmon
  114. Cassandra Fong
  115. Cat Aquino
  116. CD Boyland
  117. Cecilia Knapp
  118. Char Heather
  119. CHARLIE WATERHOUSE
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  124. Charlotte Whittle
  125. Chimene Suleyman
  126. China Miéville
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  133. Christina Riley
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  135. Ciara McEllin
  136. Claire Askew
  137. Claire Collison
  138. Claire Dudgeon
  139. Claire Kohda
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  144. Clare Murphy
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  146. Clare Shaw
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  149. courttia newland
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  286. Hilary White
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  306. Jade Mutyora
  307. Jake Goldsmith
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  314. Jane Yeh
  315. Janina Matthewson
  316. Jasmine Bitsakaki
  317. Jason Arthur
  318. Jason Cockcroft
  319. Jassa Ahluwalia
  320. Jay Bernard
  321. Jay Griffiths
  322. Jazmine Linklater
  323. Jean McEwan
  324. Jeda Pearl
  325. Jemilla Russell
  326. Jen Calleja
  327. Jenna Clake
  328. Jennifer Hodgson
  329. Jennifer Leask
  330. Jeremy Millar
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  332. Jess Brough
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  334. Jess Sanders
  335. Jess Smith
  336. Jessica Andrews
  337. Jessica Gaitan Johannesson
  338. Jessica J. Lee
  339. Jessica Stanley
  340. Jessica Widner
  341. Jiaqi Kang
  342. Jim Aitken
  343. Jin Jin Ong
  344. Jini Reddy
  345. JLM Morton
  346. Jo Bluen
  347. Jo Harkin
  348. Joanna Arnold
  349. Joanna Walsh
  350. Joanne Limburg
  351. Jodie Collins
  352. Joe Dunthorne
  353. Joe Vaughan
  354. Joel Rochester
  355. Joelle Taylor
  356. Joey Connolly
  357. Joey Frances
  358. John Clifford
  359. Johnny Gaunt
  360. Joma West
  361. Jon McGregor
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  364. Josie George
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  366. Joycelyn Longdon
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  368. Julie Burrow
  369. Julie Ward
  370. K Patrick
  371. Ka Leung
  372. Kamil Mahmood
  373. Kamila Shamsie
  374. Kane John Mills
  375. Kapka Kassabova
  376. Karla Marie Sweet
  377. Kasim Mohammed
  378. Kat Lyo s
  379. Kate Bugos
  380. Kate Campbell
  381. Kate Johnson
  382. Kate Neilan
  383. Kate Rafiq
  384. Kate Rawles
  385. Kath Akers
  386. Katharine Halls
  387. Katharine Orton
  388. Kathrine Sowerby
  389. Kathryn Carpender
  390. Kathryn MacDonald
  391. Katie da Cunha Lewin
  392. Katie Goh
  393. Katie Hawthorne
  394. Katrina Naomi
  395. Keith Ridgway
  396. Kelvingrove Writers
  397. Kerry Andrew
  398. Kerry Hudson
  399. Kevin Courtney
  400. Kevin Sanderd
  401. Khairani Barokka
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  403. Kip Alizadeh
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  407. Kit Heyam
  408. Kohinoor Yasmin
  409. Kojo Koram
  410. Koshka Duff
  411. Kristie De Garis
  412. Kyle Lovell
  413. Laura Saint-Chevalier
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  415. Laura Susijn
  416. Laura Swift
  417. Lauren Hossack
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  421. layla-roxanne hill
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  432. Line Langebek
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  456. Luke Pell
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  459. Lydia Catterall
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  469. Malachy Tallack
  470. Malcolm Garrett MBE
  471. Marc Hudson
  472. Marchelle Farrell
  473. Margaux Vialleron
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