Magna Carta is trending again – here’s why Keir Starmer's being accused of 'erasing' it

As the popular Twitter adage goes: if Magna Carta is trending on Twitter/X, then that’s never a good thing.

The famous historical document from 1215 has been cited many a time in recent years to justify protest – from businesses using it during the 2020 Covid lockdowns to defy the rules to Just Stop Oil campaigners smashing the protective glass case around a copy in the British Library – and now it’s being mentioned off the back of far-right riots earlier this month to attack Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister.

Allow us to provide some much-needed context.

What actually is Magna Carta?

First of all, it’s a document which doesn’t have ‘the’ before it, as its literal translation to English is “the great charter”, so you’d be saying ‘the the great charter.”

As for what the charter itself did, when it was signed by King John at Runnymede in Surrey after being issued to him by barons, it gave up a significant amount of the monarch’s powers.

Per the UK Parliament’s explainer on the document, it “set out limits on the king’s administration” and “what the king could and could not do” – though only four of its clauses remain in effect today.

These are clause one (in part, and which concerns the freedom of the English church), 13 (concerning the City of London), 39 (banning the seizure or imprisonment of a “free man”, except by the “lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land”) and 40 (prohibiting the denial of “right or justice”.

This is because the original 1215 document was soon annulled (in other words, rendered void), and the 61st clause which continues to be brought up by certain corners of the internet was soon removed from subsequent versions of the charter.

That clause related to the rights of 25 barons to oversee the rights granted to them in Magna Carta, and if the chief justice or any of his officials "offend[ed] in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles”, then four of the 25 barons could seek “immediate redress”.

If that wasn’t granted within 40 days after that, then the four barons refer it to the rest of their number and have the right to “assail [the chief justice and his officials] in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land” through the seizure of castles, lands and possessions.

This former right to challenge authority if some barons thought it had overstepped the mark has since been misinterpreted online, with one post circulating online claiming the annulled clause concerns “lawful rebellion”.

Except, as the fact-checking organisation Full Fact notes, clause 61 is not among the four remaining clauses of the 1215 Magna Carta, given that it was “omitted from all subsequent versions of Magna Carta and was never incorporated into English law”.

So why are people using Magna Carta now to criticise Keir Starmer?

It comes as the UK justice system continues to catch up with those who participated in the far-right riots seen earlier this month, and triggered by misinformation around the details surrounding the fatal stabbing in Southport which left three young girls dead.

According to ITV News’ Paul Brand, as of just before 5pm on Sunday, 927 arrests and 466 charges were made in relation to the violent disorder, though some have criticised police action which has seen individuals jailed for Facebook posts encouraging violence – citing free speech rights.

Even Twitter/X owner Elon Musk has waded into the discourse and taken aim at the PM, tweeting “support freedom of speech in the UK” on Friday:

Except as Larry the Cat notes in his response to Musk, freedom of expression was acknowledged in the 1998 Human Rights Act, but came with caveats around its application.

And a GB News commentator, Alex Armstrong, also got put in his place when he tried to accuse Starmer of “erasing” Magna Carta:

We’re yet to find legislation which allows for rioting, malicious communications online or the theft of Greggs sausage rolls, though – but we’ll let you know in the (impossible) event that that changes.

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