Tucker Carlson slams UK's Palestine Action ban, calls Keir Starmer 'enslaved'
Prominent American journalist Tucker Carlson has condemned the British government's ban on the direct action group Palestine Action in an interview with the BBC.
Speaking on Sunday morning, BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire asked Carlson, a former Fox News host who has been a staunch critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran, whether British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the right decision.
"I don't think Keir Starmer makes any calls about anything," Carlson replied.
"I mean, Keir Starmer's not in control of Britain."
Carlson added: "No, Keir Starmer is every bit as enslaved as Donald Trump is. It is illegal - it is a crime for which you can be arrested - in Britain right now, criticising Israel. If you say you're for Palestine Action, you can be arrested.
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"A lot of people have been arrested. So in other words, it is not legal in Britain to criticise another country."
Derbyshire challenged the statement, saying: “That is not true.”
Carlson responded: "I'm sorry, what is not true about that? Have people not been arrested in Britain for criticising Israel? They certainly have been."
Derbyshire replied: "If I may, Palestine Action is a proscribed group. It is banned. Therefore, people have been arrested."
"Why is it banned?" Carlson asked. "It's banned because the Israeli government wanted it banned."
More than 500 arrested on Saturday
The Labour government proscribed Palestine Action last July, meaning that expressing support or membership of the direct action group is a criminal offence that could lead to a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
A High Court ruling in February found the ban to be unlawful, but the government was subsequently granted permission to appeal the decision. The case is due to be heard on 28 and 29 April.
More than 1,600 people have been arrested since the ban came into effect for holding placards reading: "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action."
On Saturday alone, at least 523 people were arrested in central London during a mass demonstration opposing the ban.
Demonstrators set up camping chairs at the foot of the steps of Trafalgar Square, displaying handmade cardboard signs bearing the same message.
Middle East Eye reported on Saturday that the protesters - many of them grey-haired and frail - were seen being hauled away by police, while some were led leaning on crutches. A number of the demonstrators were dressed as Suffragettes, early women’s rights activists.
In the interview on Sunday, Carlson said: "I often criticise Britain, but I love Britain. As I said, I have family there, and I don't think that Britons understand just how badly they've been shafted by the United States."
He added: "And I am ashamed of that and I hope that we do everything we can to rectify it. I hope that our next president strikes a far more conciliatory and cooperative tone and tries to help Britain, because it has a lot of problems that will be very obvious by the next time there's a presidential election in my country."
When the war began, Starmer was initially reluctant to allow the US to use British bases to attack Iran, but Britain ultimately agreed to their use for strikes on Iranian missile sites and, as of nearly three weeks ago, for operations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
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