On Monday, PBS/CNN International’s Amanpour and Company discovered that free speech rights are under attack in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, correspondent Isobel Yeung didn’t want to talk about arresting comedians for not agreeing with trans ideology. Instead, she pestered John Woodcock, Lord Walney, who helped designate the group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, about whether elderly people protesting such a designation are terrorists and whether he has a conflict of interest because he has taken paid trips to Israel.

Yeung previewed in a voiceover, “The politician John Woodcock, Lord Walney, was the U.K. government's independent adviser on political violence and disruption. The 300-page report he wrote last year was a major factor in banning Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws.”

Walney objected to the idea he had done anything wrong, “I take real exception to that idea of this being a peaceful protest. The definition of terrorism absolutely encompasses the kind of economic damage for a political cause, which Palestine Action have systematically carried out.”

Starting a pattern of argumentation, Yeung asserted, “You're putting them in the same category as ISIS and al Qaeda, and Hamas.”

Rejecting the false dichotomy, Walney replied, “So, I think that there is a gap in the law, which I identified in my report, that there is a category of criminal behavior that is politically motivated, which can fall under the definition of terrorism. That at the moment there is not the sufficient tools to be able to stop and deter.”

Yeung continued arguing, “Half of the people that I saw at the protest were over 60. I spoke to a 70-something-year-old grandma literally holding up a sign and getting arrested. I mean, they're not what people think of when they think of terrorists.”

Walney tried to respond, “No, no, no, sure. But—,” but Yeung wouldn’t let him, “So, are they terrorists?”

This process repeated itself several times before Yeung asked, “Are you the right person to be advising—to have been advising the U.K. government on this? I mean, you were the head of Labour Friends of Israel. You have taken several all-expenses trips paid to Israel. And so, you can understand why people would question your motivations.”

Recently, Security Minister Dan Jarvis told the House of Commons:

Some of those holding placards in support of Palestine Action may not know the extent of its activities. It has conducted an escalating campaign involving intimidation and sustained criminal damage, including to Britain’s national security infrastructure. Some of its attacks have involved the use of weapons, resulting in alleged violence and serious injuries to individuals. Palestine Action’s members have been charged with violent disorder, grievous bodily harm with intent, actual bodily harm, criminal damage and aggravated burglary—charges that include, in the assessment of the independent Crown Prosecution Service, a terrorism connection.

...

The Metropolitan police has confirmed that a total of 890 arrests were made at a demonstration in central London on Saturday. Most of those were under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for displaying articles in support of Palestine Action. Thirty-three people were arrested for other offences, including 17 assaults on police officers. As the Metropolitan police has pointed out, that was in stark contrast to the 20,000 people who peacefully marched and attended the Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration.

Britain’s new Home Minister, Shabana Mahmood, who is equivalent to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, is a pro-Palestinian Muslim, but she has given no indication she will reverse Walney’s recommendation, “Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing.”

As for Walney, he rejected Yeung’s premise, “I could understand why they would want to because they don't want to account for their own actions. But people will make up their own minds on me. The—my interest in declarations has—is out in the open, and that's why you're able to talk about it. We ought to be able to say it's not okay to break the law and to terrorize working people.”

Here is a transcript for the September 8 show:

PBS Amanpour and Company

9/8/2025

ISOBEL YEUNG: The politician John Woodcock, Lord Walney, was the U.K. government's independent adviser on political violence and disruption. The 300-page report he wrote last year was a major factor in banning Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws.

JOHN WOODCOCK: I take real exception to that idea of this being a peaceful protest. The definition of terrorism absolutely encompasses the kind of economic damage for a political cause, which Palestine Action have systematically carried out.

YEUNG: You're putting them in the same category as ISIS and al Qaeda, and Hamas.

WOODCOCK: So, I think that there is a gap in the law, which I identified in my report, that there is a category of criminal behavior that is politically motivated, which can fall under the definition of terrorism. That at the moment there is not the sufficient tools to be able to stop and deter.

YEUNG: Half of the people that I saw at the protest were over 60. I spoke to a 70-something-year-old grandma literally holding up a sign –

WOODCOCK: Yes.

YEUNG: — and getting arrested. I mean –

WOODCOCK: Yeah.

YEUNG: — they're not what people think of when they think of terrorists.

WOODCOCK: No, no, no, sure. But –

YEUNG: So, are they terrorists?

WOODCOCK: Well, that — the criminal justice system will have to deal with them. And my –

YEUNG: But you are saying they are terrorists.

WOODCOCK: No. I'm saying that if you –

YEUNG: But you're not answering the question. Are they — do you see them as terrorists?

WOODCOCK: If you –

YEUNG: Well, you're the one pushing this prescription. So, surely you think that –

WOODCOCK: Well, okay, let me –

YEUNG: — they are terrorists.

WOODCOCK: If you break the law then you face having a criminal record.

YEUNG: A terrorist.

WOODCOCK: You face having a criminal record. And so — and they know that.

YEUNG: Associated with terrorism.

WOODCOCK: And they know that and that's why they are doing it.

YEUNG: Are you the right person to be advising — to have been advising the U.K. government on this? I mean, you were the head of Labour Friends of Israel.

WOODCOCK: Yeah.

YEUNG: You have taken several all-expenses trips paid to Israel. And so, you can understand why people would question your motivations.

WOODCOCK: I could understand why they would want to because they don't want to account for their own actions. But people will make up their own minds on me. The — my interest in declarations have — are out in the open, and that's why you're able to talk about it. We ought to be able to say it's not okay to break the law and to terrorize working people.