Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000, despite warnings from the group's solicitors that the move is 'unlawful, dangerous and ill thought out'. In a statement to Parliament on Monday, Cooper said a draft order would be laid on 30 June, making membership or support for the group illegal.
The group, founded in 2020, says it aims to prevent genocide and war crimes in Palestine by targeting property linked to such crimes. Its activists have often been acquitted by juries. A letter from Kellys Solicitors, representing several activists, argued that proscription would set a 'terrifying precedent' and that the group uses conventional protest methods alongside property damage.
Cooper cited a 'disgraceful attack' on RAF Brize Norton on 20 June as the latest in a series of criminal acts. She stated that the UK's defence enterprise is vital to national security and that the government will not tolerate those who put it at risk. Palestine Action called the ban 'unhinged' and accused Keir Starmer of hypocrisy, noting his past defence of protesters who broke into RAF Fairford in 2003.
The group's lawyers emphasised that no previous direct action protest group has been proscribed under anti-terror laws, and that the proposal is an 'authoritarian turn' against freedom of expression. Amnesty International and Liberty also expressed concerns in a joint letter to Cooper. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described the decision as 'absurd' and 'authoritarian', while Labour peer John Hendy KC called it an abuse of anti-terror legislation.
Cooper maintained that the decision followed a 'robust evidence-based process' involving experts from government, police, and security services. The Metropolitan Police have since imposed public order restrictions on protests linked to the group.
