Sir Mark Rowley ‘shocked' at planned protest in support of Palestine Action
Sir Mark Rowley said he was 'shocked and frustrated' at a planned protest in support of Palestine Action, as the Government moves to ban the group.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said a protest supporting the 'organised extremist criminal group' was due to take place in Westminster on Monday.
He said until the group is proscribed the force has 'no power in law' to prevent the protest taking place, adding that breaches of the law would be 'dealt with robustly'.
The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful.
Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day.
It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 20, 2025
The Home Secretary will update Parliament on Monday on the Government's plan to ban Palestine Action following the group's vandalism of two planes at an RAF base.
Yvette Cooper will provide MPs with more details on the move to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support it, in a written ministerial statement.
The decision comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine.
The incident is being investigated by counter-terror police.
In a statement on Sunday, Sir Mark said: 'I'm sure many people will be as shocked and frustrated as I am to see a protest taking place tomorrow in support of Palestine Action.
'This is an organised extremist criminal group, whose proscription as terrorists is being actively considered.
'Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft. Multiple members of the group are awaiting trial accused of serious offences.
'The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest.
'Thousands of people attend protests of a different character every week without clashing with the law or with the police. The criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, in contrast, represent a form of extremism that I believe the overwhelming majority of the public rejects.
'We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group. If that happens we will be determined to target those who continue to act in its name and those who show support for it.
'Until then we have no power in law to prevent tomorrow's protest taking place. We do, however, have the power to impose conditions on it to prevent disorder, damage, and serious disruption to the community, including to Parliament, to elected representatives moving around Westminster and to ordinary Londoners.
'Breaches of the law will be dealt with robustly.'
A spokesperson for Palestine Action previously accused the UK of failing to meet its obligation to prevent or punish genocide.
The spokesperson said: 'When our Government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.'
Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said he could not rule out the possibility of a foreign power being behind Palestine Action.
The Business and Trade Secretary told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'It is extremely concerning they gained access to that base and the Defence Secretary is doing an immediate review of how that happened.
'The actions that they undertook at Brize Norton were also completely unacceptable and it's not the first. It's the fourth attack by that group on a key piece of UK defence infrastructure.'
The Home Secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is 'concerned in terrorism'.
Don't forget about Gaza.
While the world is distracted, almost 400 people – queueing for food – have been gunned down by Israeli forces.
You don't accidentally kill 400 people waiting for aid, they have been deliberately massacred.
The UK must end all arms sales to Israel now. pic.twitter.com/ttWW485wex
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 19, 2025
Proscription will require Ms Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers.
Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company the Wagner Group.
Former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer said vandalising aircraft at RAF Brize Norton would not solely provide legal justification for proscribing the group.
Asked whether the group's actions were commensurate with proscription, Lord Falconer told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: 'I am not aware of what Palestine Action has done beyond the painting of things on the planes in Brize Norton, they may have done other things I didn't know.
'But generally, that sort of demonstration wouldn't justify proscription so there must be something else that I don't know about.'
Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said the Government was 'abusing' anti-terror laws against pro-Palestine activists, as tens of thousands of protesters marched in London on Saturday.
Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Home Secretary @YvetteCooperMP is banning Palestine Action.
We are pleased that the Home Secretary has listened to our representations over the last week.
Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF… https://t.co/aPR4aRd8xO
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) June 20, 2025
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) welcomed the news that Ms Cooper intended to proscribe Palestine Action, saying: 'Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.'
Former home secretary Suella Braverman also said it was 'absolutely the correct decision'.
A pro-Palestine protester at Saturday's march in central London said it was 'absolutely horrendous' that the Government was preparing to ban Palestine Action.
Artist Hannah Woodhouse, 61, told the PA news agency: 'Counter-terrorism measures, it seems, are being used against non-violent peace protesters.
'The peace activists are trying to do the Government's job, which is to disarm Israel.'
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The proscribing of Palestine Action not only forms part of an assault on activism, but also showcases how counter-terrorism has become increasingly anti-Palestinian in its orientation, with British authorities deliberately and systematically conflating support for Palestine with terrorism. Academics and human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have long detailed experiences of harassment by counter-terror police, based on actual or perceived support of Palestinian rights. The UK Government Prevent programme has played a significant part in securitising Palestinian activism, with schools students as young as five being reported to authorities after expressing sentiments in support of Palestine. Since the start of massive Israeli violence in Gaza in October 2023, such reports have skyrocketed by 455%, with students told to remove badges, stickers and T-shirts that have 'free Palestine' on them, alleged retaliatory measures against college students for tweeting support or joining pickets for Palestine; and reports of university exclusions, suspensions and investigations, as well as the cancellations of pro-Palestinian events. This normalisation of targeting of pro-Palestinian activism has had severe legal impacts, leading to prosecutions based on anti-activist sentiment. These include the prosecution of three women who displayed images of paragliders during a protest and a man for wearing a green Saudi Arabian headband containing the basic statement of the Islamic faith 'shahada', on the charge of 'carrying or displaying an article in a public place in such a way as to arouse reasonable suspicion' that they were supporting Hamas. In addition to the long trend by successive UK governments of criminalising Palestinian activism, proscription now frames it as a terror threat – equating Palestinian activism with, for instance, the 2005 London bombings, the murder of 51 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, or the execution of 77 left-wing youth at Utøya, Norway. The use of such powers has frightening implications for Palestinian activism, not just because it will be framed as a security threat to the British state, but also because of how such legislation is constructed. The Act of Proscription, as detailed under Part II of the Terrorism Act 2000, not only makes it illegal to be a member of a banned group, but also criminalises a host of other actions that are, or can be perceived as, being linked to the aims or objectives of the group. It is not just a terror offence to belong, or profess to belong to, a proscribed organisation, in the UK or overseas – it is a terror offence to engage in acts that may be considered as supportive. Under Part II, Section 12 of the Act, supportive acts are defined as 'moral support or approval' of a proscribed organisation, expressing an opinion or belief supportive of a proscribed organisation, or encouraging support for the activities of such an organisation. The implementation of this law, when used against a non-violent Palestinian activist group, is the criminalisation of anyone who publicly expresses sentiment in support of Palestine Action's aims. Its website lists these as 'ending global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime' and seeking to 'make it impossible for … companies to profit from the oppression of Palestinians' Proscription also criminalises the wearing of clothing or carrying of signs that may 'arouse reasonable suspicion' that an individual supports a proscribed organisation, under Section 13 of the Act. This includes publishing images of such items online. Pro-Palestinian clothes, the Palestinian keffiyeh, Palestinian flags and signs are now very squarely in the crosshairs of counter-terror police, creating a vast array of possibility for prosecution of activists. The proscription of Palestine Action places people in Scotland and across Britain in very dangerous legal territory. Heavy-handed measures are increasingly being deployed by the British state to prosecute non-violent groups and activists as 'terrorists'. Successive UK governments have sought to roll back human and democratic rights under the guise of counter-terrorism, prevent activism critical of the British state, and to conflate Muslim communities and Middle Eastern issues with terrorism. The banning of Palestine Action represents an attempt to crush dissent that highlights British complicity in war crimes and embarrasses the UK Government. It also introduces a host of deeply worrying possibilities for the prosecution of activists, journalists, academics – indeed, anyone who speaks out in support of Palestinian rights, an end to the genocide and the use of public activism. Proscription shows the contempt the UK Government has for Palestinian freedom, and should be a loud alarm for those who value democracy and human rights, in times of genocide. Richard McNeil-Willson lectures in the Islamic and Middle Eastern studies department at the University of Edinburgh
