{"id":86511,"date":"2025-10-07T07:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T06:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=86511"},"modified":"2025-10-07T08:30:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T07:30:35","slug":"progress-towards-a-police-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/10\/07\/progress-towards-a-police-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Progress towards a police state"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the FT notes<\/a> this morning:<\/p>\n

Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy troops to American cities, intensifying a stand-off with Democratic-led states resisting his use of the military on US soil.<\/p>\n

The president sounded the warning as his efforts to send federal troops to quash protests in several cities have had mixed results in the courts, with one blocking the deployment of the military to Oregon and another allowing it in Illinois.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The problem for Trump is that there is no insurrection. In Portland, Oregon, for example, around 20 people protest each night against the actions of ICE. That's it. The suggestion from Trump that it is a warzone is so far from he truth it is absurd. But absurdity has never stopped Trump or any other fascist determined to deliver what their playbook demands of them. And so he is considering using the Insurrection Act, passed in 1807 for a wholly different era.<\/p>\n

The worrying possibility is that facts do not come into this. As Robert Reich<\/a> has written on Substack overnight:<\/p>\n

Friends,<\/p>\n

The direction we\u2019re going is either martial law or civil war.<\/p>\n

Americans from so-called \u201cred\u201d states, with the backing of their Republican governors and legislatures, are on the brink of using lethal force against Americans in so-called \u201cblue\u201d states, whose Democratic governors and legislatures strongly oppose the moves.<\/p>\n

I pray we don\u2019t come close to this, but Trump has now ordered the deployment of 400 members of the Texas National Guard to several states, including Oregon and Illinois \u2014 ostensibly to protect ICE agents and facilities from protesters. The first group of Texas Guard troops is expected to arrive in Chicago tomorrow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having noted precisely why Trump is seeking to incite what he can call an insurrection, and then why we are nowhere near such a situation, he concluded:<\/p>\n

As I said, I hope we don\u2019t come near to this. I hope the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, stop Trump\u2019s plan. But I believe it\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>Trump\u2019s plan (the details of which have been worked out by the troika of Vance, Miller, and Vought), and they are implementing it as quickly as they can.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to unduly alarm you, but you need to be aware of this imminent danger. It\u2019s unfolding very rapidly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have little doubt he is right. The United States is nearing civil war, with its forces being turned on those on the left.<\/p>\n

But then, so too are we, albeit a little behind the US, but nonetheless on the same path.<\/p>\n

A Guardian<\/a> newsletter this morning is based on a discussion with LSE-based human rights lawyer Dr Richard Martin<\/a>\u00a0 and examines why new laws on protest are being put in place in the UK, and are targeted solely at the left, saying:<\/p>\n

\n

The government put out an announcement<\/a>\u00a0on Sunday, saying it would amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to further impose conditions on public protests and assemblies.<\/p>\n

The changes to the law would allow police officers to consider the cumulative impact of protest when deciding whether or not they are lawful, meaning they could potentially re-route or totally shut down protest they believe could cause serious disruption to local communities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The term 'serious disruption' is, of course, totally subjective and open to any police officer to interpret. I have no doubt that this is deliberate.<\/p>\n

And why is this targeted at the left? As the piece notes:<\/p>\n

\n

Do these new laws really represent a serious difference?<\/p>\n

Martin thinks they do \u2013 but more as a vibe shift than anything else. \u201cCrucially, the government is trying to send a signal to the police: to get tougher, less tolerant and to put more weight on the other side of the scales,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat happens next depends on how susceptible senior police officers are to the mood music.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The police are, of course, notoriously right-wing.<\/p>\n

Then this was noted:<\/p>\n

\n

I ask Martin why these same laws aren\u2019t being suggested to police far-right rallies, particularly given the government justification of wanting to make sure that communities feel protected and free from intimidation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to be upfront about what\u2019s prompted this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not far-right rallies. The target to begin with was Extinction Rebellion, and now it\u2019s\u00a0Palestine Action<\/a>.\u201d He thinks that it is the shared tactic of these two groups \u2013 which he defined as \u201ca campaign of attrition where you keep protesting to effectively exhaust the police, to fill the custody suites\u201d \u2013 that the government legislation is actually targeted at.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir approach \u2026 will potentially be met by police gradually breaking that technique down,\u201d Martin explained. \u201cIt will mean there may be a greater number of arrests, the stakes for those arrested will be higher and we may well see less protest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
The strategy is not as high profile as that Trump is using, but the aim is the same: it is to drive left wing protest against fascist abuse from the streets. And it is fascist abuse in Gaza that is prompting this action: that is what the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people is, as the vast majority of people in the UK agree<\/a>. So, we have a government aligned against people who are protesting about something that most people in the UK think is wrong.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
All that differs between the UK and US is the timing of the trajectory of travel. The end point is likely to be the same. Call it a police state. As Robert Reich said:<\/div>\n
\n
I don\u2019t want to unduly alarm you, but you need to be aware of this imminent danger. It\u2019s unfolding very rapidly.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the FT notes this morning: Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy troops to American cities, intensifying a
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