More than 500 writers, performers and academics have asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to abandon plans to designate the protest group Palestine Action a terrorist organisation. In two open letters organised by Artists for Palestine UK and Fossil Free Books, signatories such as Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan, Brian Eno and novelist Alan Hollinghurst say the order would set a “dangerous precedent for freedom of expression.” They also urged the government to halt arms exports to Israel. Cooper laid a draft proscription order before Parliament on 30 June, citing the group’s 20 June break-in at RAF Brize Norton, where activists sprayed paint on two aircraft. If MPs approve the measure, membership of or support for Palestine Action would become a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, placing it alongside Islamic State and National Action on the UK’s terror list. Separately, the BBC is facing an internal revolt over its Gaza coverage. An open letter signed by more than 100 employees and 300 media figures accuses the broadcaster of acting as a “mouthpiece” for the Israeli government, dropping critical content and disciplining staff who share articles sympathetic to Palestinians. The letter highlights the decision to pull the documentary “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” later aired by Channel 4, and calls for the resignation of board member Sir Robbie Gibb because of his ties to the Jewish Chronicle. Director-General Tim Davie has defended the BBC’s editorial standards while acknowledging “regret” over a separate failure to disclose a radio guest’s financial links to the Israeli Defence Forces. The parallel challenges to government and public broadcaster underscore mounting pressure within Britain’s cultural and media sectors over the country’s response to the Gaza war and the limits of protest and reporting.