To the Home Secretary,
We are writing on behalf of Prisoners for Palestine in Britain regarding the last remaining hunger striker, Umer Khalid, currently being held on remand at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. Umer has been on hunger strike for 9 days after resuming his hunger strike on 10th January 2026 following a short pause. He has warned that he will escalate his action to a thirst strike as of Saturday 24th January, should the government continue to refuse a meeting.
Despite numerous hospitalisations, growing public pressure, and even international support in addition to some individuals entering into their eighth week of hunger strike, you have refused to engage and have ignored all attempts at dialogue in order to consider the health and safety of individuals and ensure they avoid being harmed. Concerned members of the medical community have written to the Health and Justice Commission to the NHS; and in Derry district council, a motion has been passed to support the hunger strikers, express concern for their wellbeing, and also denounce the proscription of Palestine Action.
During the hunger strike, there has been consistent medical neglect, harassment and degrading treatment by prison staff including prison governors towards the hunger strikers. There are multiple instances of the prison administration in the various prisons breaking national prison regulations. All of this is closely monitored and logged by us.
Today, we write to reaffirm that our demands are clear. We will not be dissuaded by your silence, as support for the hunger strike grows both here in Britain and internationally. It is your duty as a public servant to act in the interests of the citizens of this country, and by failing to do so you are abdicating responsibility, and we will hold you to account.
It is morally and legally imperative that the government immediately fulfils the following demands in order to end the hunger and thirst strike:
1. End all censorship
We demand to be able to send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance, or interference from the prison administration. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that is vital for prisoners, whose voices are already systematically silenced. Censorship inside prisons is a tool of control used to punish resistance. Letters, phone calls, political statements, books and all other forms of expression must be respected.
2. Immediate bail
We demand that we be released from custody while awaiting trial. Holding people on remand, in some cases indefinitely, is a deliberate abuse of power, used to punish prisoners before they have even faced a court or been convicted of any crime. Some of us will have been imprisoned for nearly two years without a conviction. The right to a fair trial must include the right to prepare for it in freedom, not behind bars.
3. Re-open the Gaza inquiry
On 4 June 2025, Jeremy Corbyn MP introduced a bill into the UK House of Commons calling on the government to establish an independent inquiry into UK involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza, including the supply of weapons, surveillance aircraft and use of Royal Airforce bases.
At the second reading on 4 July 2025, the government rejected this bill and refused to establish such an inquiry. The public deserves to know the full scale of their government’s participation in genocide.
4. Release surveillance footage from RAF spy flights the night of the killing of British aid workers
Three British aid workers were killed in a Israeli strike in Gaza, in April 2024.
John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were among the seven World Central Kitchen workers killed in the strike.
They were travelling with a convoy that had just unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food aid brought from overseas, according to the charity.
All three vehicles in the convoy were hit while leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, south of Gaza City.
Rishi Sunak, prime minister at time, said the deaths “appalled” him. Why have they never seen justice, or even a clear answer as to how and why this happened?
5. Full disclosure of damage figures from Brize Norton action
We call on the government to open the dialogue for discussion and negotiations to commence in order to avoid any further harm being inflicted on citizens of your country through your inaction and in order for the hunger strike to be ended safely.
Please respond to this letter as soon as possible.