Amnesty warns the UK is increasingly reflecting, rather than resisting, these global trends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2025 to 2026, the UK has:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Used counterterrorism powers to restrict peaceful protest\u00a0\u00a0Overseen the mass arrest of peaceful protesters, with courts ruling aspects unlawful\u00a0\u00a0Intensified hostile policies towards migrants and people seeking asylum\u00a0\u00a0Increased surveillance and policing powers\u00a0\u00a0Continued arms transfers to Israel despite clear risks of use in serious violations of international law\u00a0\u00a0Cut international aid amid escalating global humanitarian need\u00a0\u00a0Defended the use of national security vetoes in legacy Troubles cases, undermining truth, accountability and justice for victims and families\u00a0\u00a0Pursued economic and social policies that risk pushing more people into poverty, weakening protections for economic and social rights\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amnesty also warns the UK must not enable potential violations of international law through its international partnerships, including by allowing its military bases to be used in military operations linked to this conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK\u2019s Chief Executive, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman rights are facing the most dangerous moment in generations. We are at a tipping point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the moment the UK\u2019s moral mettle is being tested. In these desperate times we need strong leadership to defend human rights and international law, but right now we are falling short.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not good enough to criminalise peaceful protesters while ignoring the injustice they are speaking out against. Keir Starmer knows what is happening on his watch. He knows the peaceful protesters being treated as criminals are expressing their horror at the killing of children in Gaza. He knows powerful states are tearing up international law in pursuit of power and profit, and that the UK has not challenged this with the clarity and consistency required. And he knows a world in crisis will force more people to flee, requiring international protection, not performative hostility or attempts to shirk our responsibilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot claim to defend the rule of law while undermining it in practice, whether through arms sales, or allowing UK bases to be used in conflicts where international law is being violated. That is not moral leadership, it is complicity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hour has come. This is exactly the moment human rights were created for when populism is rising, when people are struggling to afford the essentials, when asylum seekers and migrants are scapegoated, when war and displacement are everywhere, and when some lives are treated as worth less than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can be better than this. The question now is whether the Prime Minister will rise to meet the challenge of our lifetime, or be remembered for standing by when it mattered most.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amnesty warns the UK is increasingly reflecting, rather than resisting, these global trends.\u00a0 In 2025 to 2026, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-542852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}