Sir Keir Starmer and former US President Donald Trump held two telephone conversations discussing Palestine Action before the protest group was banned under terrorism legislation, the High Court has heard.
Legal Challenge Against Terror Designation
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori is fighting the organisation's proscription as a terrorist group, with her legal team arguing the ban has had a "dramatic, severe, widespread and potentially lifelong" effect on supporters.
Court documents reveal the Prime Minister and Mr Trump discussed the protest group during calls on 10 and 30 March 2025. This followed an incident in March 2025 when activists targeted Mr Trump's Scottish golf course, painting "Gaza is not for sale" and digging up sections of the green.
The US president subsequently posted on social media that Mr Starmer had assured him authorities had "caught the terrorists" responsible for the damage.
Unprecedented Proscription Decision
Palestine Action was officially proscribed as a terrorist organisation four months later in June 2025, following a separate protest where activists breached RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two military aircraft with red paint.
Mr Husain KC, representing the claimant, told the court that then-home secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to ban the group was "novel and unprecedented". He emphasised that this marked the first time a direct action civil disobedience organisation that doesn't advocate violence had been proscribed as terrorist.
The barrister revealed that Foreign Office advice from March indicated that while Palestine Action operated internationally, other countries largely viewed its activities as "activism and not extremism or terrorism". The FCDO had warned that proscribing the group might be seen as "an over-reaction by the UK".
Widespread Impact and Arrests
The terror designation has led to significant consequences, with action group Defend Our Juries reporting that more than 2,350 people have been arrested for supporting Palestine Action since the ban came into effect.
Owen Greenhall, also representing the claimant, told the court there was a "very significant chilling" effect from the proscription. He highlighted cases where individuals were arrested merely for holding signs stating "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".
Mr Greenhall argued that "to say Palestine Action are not terrorists... is to exercise one's right to free speech to criticise proscription" and that arresting people for such expressions "goes too far".
The full hearing of the legal challenge is scheduled to take place over two days at the Royal Courts of Justice in London before Dame Victoria Sharp, Mr Justice Swift and Mrs Justice Steyn.
