Labour minister celebrates branding old women ‘terrorists’

Mike Tapp is the Labour parliamentary under-secretary of state for migration and citizenship. On 15 June, he put out a celebratory post after a court ruled that the government was okay to brand Palestine Action a ‘terrorist’ group:

Supporting Palestine ✅
Supporting Palestine Action ❌

Don’t support terrorists.

— Mike Tapp MP (@MikeTappTweets) June 15, 2026

Well, Labour – what should a terrorist look like?

As Skwawkbox reported for the Canary:

The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s appeal against the High Court’s ruling that the ‘terrorism’ ban on Palestine Action was unlawful. The appeals court decided that the ban was a proportionate infringement on UK human rights and did not exceed the government’s powers.

The judge in question ruled that Palestine Action cannot be compared to the suffragettes because they caused serious damage. As Skwawkbox noted, though, the suffragettes literally used bombs – something which is markedly more extreme than anything Palestine Action did.

When Zack Polanski pointed out that the ruling will mean branding peaceful old women ‘terrorists’, scumbag Tapp asked the following:

Tell me, Zack, what should someone who is convicted of a terror related offence look like? I’m intrigued.

— Mike Tapp MP (@MikeTappTweets) June 15, 2026

To be fair, the above isn’t an unfair question. Once you have terror laws, the state gets to decide what is or is not a terror offence. And as we’ve long warned, this can lead to the sort of authoritarian creep we’re now seeing.

All that aside, I think we can agree that if we do have to have terrorism laws, then a terrorist should look like someone who just committed an act of extreme and murderous violence – not someone who was sat down holding a piece of cardboard with words written on it.

A government of cowards

It says a lot that Tapp is terrified of the older woman pictured above. Tapp is an ex-soldier, too, which explains a lot. And while we’ve nothing against cowards living full and wholesome lives, they shouldn’t be dictating government policy.

Featured image via Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)