Home Secretary decides to proscribe Palestine Action after ‘disgraceful attack'
The Home Secretary has decided to proscribe Palestine Action and will lay an order before Parliament next week to make membership and support for the protest group illegal.
Yvette Cooper confirmed the move after Palestine Action vandalised two planes inside RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday.
The incident is being investigated by counter-terror police.
The ban under terror laws will make it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, and will be punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said they would be seeking a legal challenge to the 'unhinged reaction'.
A draft order will be laid in Parliament next Monday, and if approved after debates by MPs and peers, the ban could come into force by Friday.
Ms Cooper said in a written ministerial statement: 'The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton in the early hours of the morning on Friday 20 June is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action.
'The UK's defence enterprise is vital to the nation's national security and this Government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk.'
Palestine Action posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday morning.
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.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the act was 'epically stupid' and a 'direct attack on our national security'.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge went further, calling it 'sabotage'.
The group has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
Ms Cooper said Palestine Action's activity has increased since 2024 and its methods have become 'more aggressive', with its members showing 'willingness to use violence'.
She named three attacks at Thales defence factory in Glasgow in 2022, Instro Precision in Kent and Elbit Systems UK in Bristol in 2024, as causing damage costing millions of pounds.
Ms Cooper said the ban will allow law enforcement to 'effectively disrupt the escalating actions of this serious group', describing a further vandalism attack on a Jewish-owned business last month that Palestine Action claimed responsibility for as 'clearly intimidatory and unacceptable'.
'Proscription represents a legitimate response to the threat posed by Palestine Action,' she said.
'Its activities meet the threshold set out in the statutory tests established under the Terrorism Act 2000.'
A spokesperson for Palestine Action said the Home Secretary's statement 'makes a series of categorically false claims' and the group has instructed lawyers to pursue 'all avenues for legal challenge'.
They added: 'This is an unhinged reaction to an action spraying paint in protest at the UK Government arming Israel's slaughter of the Palestinian people.
'We are teachers, nurses, students and parents who take part in actions disrupting the private companies who are arming Israel's genocide, by spray painting or entering their factory premises.
'It is plainly preposterous to rank us with terrorist groups like Isis, National Action and Boko Haram.'
Earlier on Monday, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that plans to ban the group would mark a very serious step and that this 'may be an escalation too far'.
The announcement comes as police made 13 arrests after protesters clashed with police at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in central London on Monday.
The protest had initially been planned to take place outside the Houses of Parliament, but the location was changed early on Monday morning after the Metropolitan Police imposed an exclusion zone.
The Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was 'shocked' by the planned protest and described Palestine Action as an 'organised extremist criminal group'.
Asked about Sir Mark's comments, Palestine Action spokesperson Max Geller said on Monday: 'It's really troubling that the head of the Met would pre-empt the Government and ban us from protesting (at the Houses of Parliament).
'It's a frustrating turn for democracy in this country.'
The Home Secretary added the proscription is specific to Palestine Action and does not affect lawful protest groups or others campaigning on issues around Palestine and the Middle East.
'It is vitally important that those seeking to protest peacefully, including pro-Palestinian groups, those opposing the actions of the Israeli government, and those demanding changes in the UK's foreign policy, can continue to do so,' she said.
The Home Secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is 'concerned in terrorism'.
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Glasgow Times
44 minutes ago
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Labour MP warns proscribing Palestine Action would be ‘kneejerk reaction'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has unveiled plans to proscribe the organisation, which armed forces minister Luke Pollard described as 'not a protest group'. Counter-terror police are investigating the break-in last Friday, when activists damaged two RAF Voyager aircraft using paint. Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the incident, and the organisation posted footage from the Oxfordshire base on its X account, claiming that the planes help to 'collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza'. Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson told the Commons that she was 'concerned by the Government's kneejerk reaction to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation'. She told MPs: 'This country has a long history of protests, as I mentioned in this chamber last week, some on British military sites, and none have been branded as terrorists.' Ms Johnson added that authorities could pursue those responsible for 'criminal damage, but not as a terrorist', and asked: 'Can the minister set out what steps his department will take to ensure peaceful protest activity is not wrongly categorised as a national security threat?' Mr Pollard replied: 'The proscription of Palestine Action has been something that has been considered over a long period of time by my colleagues in the Home Office. 'It is a decision that they have taken after considering the facts, those in the public domain and those perhaps held privately, and we are certain that this is the right course of action to keep our country safe in these difficult times.' Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader, said: 'Direct action at military bases is nothing new. We remember with respect the women who marched from Wales to Greenham Common, and the thousands of women who joined them. 'They didn't just march, they pulled down fences. They criminally damaged infrastructure. Protesters tugging at the fence at RAF Greenham Common in 1983 (PA Archive) 'So, does the minister recognise the risk implicit in proscribing protest groups calling out war as terrorist organisations?' Ms Saville Roberts was referring to a demonstration between 1981 and 2000, when anti-nuclear weapons protesters set up the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. Mr Pollard replied: 'They're not a protest group. They are people that have undertaken severe criminal damage to military assets. They're people who are increasingly using violence as part of their modus operandi. 'The decision that the Home Secretary has taken has not been taken lightly and reflects the seriousness of the intent of that organisation. 'I welcome free speech, I welcome debate and challenge, but vandalising RAF jets is not free speech – that is criminal damage, that is interventions on a military base, that is – as I say in my statement – not only epically stupid but also a threat to our national security and the Home Secretary was right to proscribe them.' In his statement, Mr Pollard had earlier told MPs that personnel at Brize Norton 'work tirelessly to support our armed forces deployed across the world to deliver military assistance to Ukraine, and they have been formally recognised for their contribution in flying humanitarian aid into Gaza, so this action does nothing to further the path to peace'. Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative MP for New Forest East, warned that 'it would do the country and the Government no favours if they were to lose in court a challenge to the process of proscription, because whereas the secret sabotage of planes would certainly have been an act of terrorism leading to proscription, the fact is, this was a performative act which they announced they had done'. MPs will have a 'full debate' in Parliament as part of the proscription process, Mr Pollard pledged in response, as he said the bid to proscribe Palestine Action was put together after 'considerable thought'. MPs also heard that the 'fence is not formidable' at Brize Norton, after Liberal Democrat MP for Witney Charlie Maynard told the Commons that 'security at the base has been really underinvested for a long time'. Mr Maynard said he had walked around the base's perimeter in his constituency 'quite a few times'. Mr Pollard said the Government's response had already 'helped identify a number of immediate steps' to bolster security at the site. The minister added: 'He is right that much of our armed forces estate and our armed forces have been hollowed out and underfunded for far too long. 'It's precisely for that reason that I welcome the increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027. 'Our armed forces are brilliant but it's time they had first-class facilities.'
Leader Live
an hour ago
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Labour MP warns proscribing Palestine Action would be ‘kneejerk reaction'
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Labour MP warns proscribing Palestine Action would be ‘kneejerk reaction'
Counter-terror police are investigating the break-in last Friday, when activists damaged two RAF Voyager aircraft using paint. Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the incident, and the organisation posted footage from the Oxfordshire base on its X account, claiming that the planes help to 'collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza'. Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson told the Commons that she was 'concerned by the Government's kneejerk reaction to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation'. She told MPs: 'This country has a long history of protests, as I mentioned in this chamber last week, some on British military sites, and none have been branded as terrorists.' Ms Johnson added that authorities could pursue those responsible for 'criminal damage, but not as a terrorist', and asked: 'Can the minister set out what steps his department will take to ensure peaceful protest activity is not wrongly categorised as a national security threat?' Mr Pollard replied: 'The proscription of Palestine Action has been something that has been considered over a long period of time by my colleagues in the Home Office. 'It is a decision that they have taken after considering the facts, those in the public domain and those perhaps held privately, and we are certain that this is the right course of action to keep our country safe in these difficult times.' Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader, said: 'Direct action at military bases is nothing new. We remember with respect the women who marched from Wales to Greenham Common, and the thousands of women who joined them. 'They didn't just march, they pulled down fences. They criminally damaged infrastructure. Protesters tugging at the fence at RAF Greenham Common in 1983 (PA Archive) 'So, does the minister recognise the risk implicit in proscribing protest groups calling out war as terrorist organisations?' Ms Saville Roberts was referring to a demonstration between 1981 and 2000, when anti-nuclear weapons protesters set up the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. Mr Pollard replied: 'They're not a protest group. They are people that have undertaken severe criminal damage to military assets. They're people who are increasingly using violence as part of their modus operandi. 'The decision that the Home Secretary has taken has not been taken lightly and reflects the seriousness of the intent of that organisation. 'I welcome free speech, I welcome debate and challenge, but vandalising RAF jets is not free speech – that is criminal damage, that is interventions on a military base, that is – as I say in my statement – not only epically stupid but also a threat to our national security and the Home Secretary was right to proscribe them.' In his statement, Mr Pollard had earlier told MPs that personnel at Brize Norton 'work tirelessly to support our armed forces deployed across the world to deliver military assistance to Ukraine, and they have been formally recognised for their contribution in flying humanitarian aid into Gaza, so this action does nothing to further the path to peace'. Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative MP for New Forest East, warned that 'it would do the country and the Government no favours if they were to lose in court a challenge to the process of proscription, because whereas the secret sabotage of planes would certainly have been an act of terrorism leading to proscription, the fact is, this was a performative act which they announced they had done'. MPs will have a 'full debate' in Parliament as part of the proscription process, Mr Pollard pledged in response, as he said the bid to proscribe Palestine Action was put together after 'considerable thought'. MPs also heard that the 'fence is not formidable' at Brize Norton, after Liberal Democrat MP for Witney Charlie Maynard told the Commons that 'security at the base has been really underinvested for a long time'. Mr Maynard said he had walked around the base's perimeter in his constituency 'quite a few times'. Mr Pollard said the Government's response had already 'helped identify a number of immediate steps' to bolster security at the site. The minister added: 'He is right that much of our armed forces estate and our armed forces have been hollowed out and underfunded for far too long. 'It's precisely for that reason that I welcome the increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027. 'Our armed forces are brilliant but it's time they had first-class facilities.'
