Episode Details

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Is Britain becoming a police state?

Last September, Ellen and Imaan were joined by Conor Gearty, a barrister and professor of human rights law at LSE. In his final interview before his passing, Conor explained how his views on the future of protest had changed—and why he was more concerned than ever.

Plus, after hundreds were arrested for supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action, he discussed his reaction to the ban and criticised the Labour government’s stance on protest, which he said panders to a “middle covert authoritarianism”. Are protests from the political left and right treated differently?

Conor also weighed in on what will be at stake if Britain leaves the ECHR. How must Labour respond to Reform’s rhetoric on human rights? And how can democracy be fortified?

To read Conor Gearty’s past writing for Prospect, click here.

Or, to read an edited transcript of this interview, click here.

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