Letters / Democratic rights under attack
The person at the centre of this photo is Col. Chris Romberg (retired). He is wearing the regimental blazer and tie of the 29 Commando Regiment, where he served as an army officer before working as a military attaché at UK embassies in Egypt and Jordan. His Jewish father fled to Britain from Austria as a 25 year old.
Meet Colonel (ret.) Chris Romberg, former British army officer (29 Commando Regiment), military attache at UK embassies in Egypt and Jordan, and son of a Holocaust survivor.
Chris was arrested today for supporting a terrorist organisation.
A quick thread > pic.twitter.com/XeN5YbdG5u
— Tom Dale (@tom_d_) August 9, 2025
He was one of the 466 folk arrested in Westminster this week for holding a placard which said “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.
It sounds ridiculous but this person, according to the UK government at least, is now a terrorist.
The UK government has been participating in the genocide of Palestinian people. This has caused ordinary people in Britain to exercise their democratic right to protest. Our government is now using terrorism legislation to restrict our right to peaceful protest.
There is something deeply unsettling happening at the core of our democracy. If folk can be arrested merely for holding a sign supporting a nonviolent protest group, it’s surely evidence that the social contract between the government and the people is breaking.
This is an issue of power. Power is shifting away from ordinary people towards corporations and the super-rich. Democracy is a threat to this concentration of power; it’s therefore not surprising that our rights are coming under attack.
Now is the time for us all to stand up and make our voices heard. Many people think that participation in democracy just means voting every few years but there are so many more ways that you can make your voice heard. Join a trade union. Join a political party. Write letters to your councillors, your MSPs and your MP, to newspapers, to political prisoners.
Yesterday’s dictators wore uniforms, today’s authoritarian elites wear suits, they hoard wealth, control resources and bend democracy to their will. They may not march with armies, but they command boardrooms, media empires and our data. It’s time to break their grip: Land reform, community ownership, fair taxation.
Authoritarianism, whether political or corporate, feeds on hierarchy and exploitation: patriarchal, economic, ecological. To be free we must topple these systems and build a society where the few cannot exploit the many.
Councillor Alex Armitage
Zara Pennington-Smith
Shetland Greens
