Anyone showing support for Palestine Action ‘will feel full force of the law', justice minister says
Date: 2025-08-11T09:05:22.000Z
Title:
Content: Government defends decision to proscribe protest group after mass arrests at a demonstration in Westminster over the weekend
Yohannes Lowe
Mon 11 Aug 2025 11.05 CEST
First published on Mon 11 Aug 2025 10.42 CEST
11.01am CEST
11:01
My colleagues Henry Dyer and Rob Evans exclusively revealed last week that Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army and a member of the House of Lords, urged ministers to crack down on Palestine Action at the request of a US defence company that employs him as an adviser. Here is an extract from their story:
Richard Dannatt wrote privately to two separate Home Office ministers asking them to address the 'threat' posed by the group after its activists targeted a factory in 2022.
The activists caused extensive damage to the factory which is run by Teledyne, a US multinational that sells technology for military, aerospace and other applications. Lord Dannatt has been a paid adviser to the company since 2022.
Dannatt's involvement after the attack on the factory in Wales led to allegations heard later in court that the peer was 'seeking to influence' the criminal investigation into the Palestine Action activists.
10.54am CEST
10:54
As we mentioned in the opening post, the Metropolitan police, a force under huge budgetary and resource pressure, arrested a total of 532 people on Saturday at the largest demonstration relating to Palestine Action since the group was proscribed last month.
Detained protesters were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area.
Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date.
The Met said 522 people were held for displaying an item in support of a proscribed organisation, and there were a further 10 arrests, six for assaults on officers, two for breaching Public Order Act conditions, one arrest for obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence.
Updated
at 11.05am CEST
10.42am CEST
10:42
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
The government has defended its controversial proscription of protest group Palestine Action, with the justice minister, Alex Davies-Jones, saying supporters of a 'terrorist organisation will feel the full force of the law'.
The comments come after a huge demonstration against the proscription took place in London over the weekend in which 532 people were arrested. The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over, according to official figures.
Responding to questions about the protest this morning on BBC Breakfast, Davies-Jones said:
I want to thank the police for their bravery and their courage in carrying out their diligent duties in the line of public protection, and I want to state that the right to peacefully protest in this country is a cornerstone of our democracy, and of course, we respect that.
But with regards to Palestine Action, they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and their actions have not been peaceful.
They have violently carried out criminal damage to RAF aircraft. We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons which we can't disclose because of national security.
But they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and anyone showing support for that terrorist organisation will feel the full force of the law.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, proscribed Palestine Action last month under the Terrorism Act after activists caused an estimated £7m of damage to jets at the RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire.
It made membership of or support for it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The government justifies the ban by saying it narrowly targets a group that has been organising serious criminality.
But critics say the ban is a draconian clampdown on freedom of expression and is the latest erosion of civil liberties that have been brought in under successive governments.
Palestine Action is appealing against the ban after a High Court ruling on 30 July gave it permission to do so. We will have more on Palestine Action shortly.
Here is what else is on the agenda for the rest of the day:
11am: Reform UK press conference.
11.30am: Lobby briefing with the prime minister's spokesperson, who will likely be asked about the extent of the UK's involvement in the Trump-Putin Ukraine summit in Alaska on Friday.
Late morning: Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition, visits East Anglia to highlight local concerns about the use of asylum hotels.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
Third man arrested in canal murder inquiry in Northampton bailed
A third person arrested on suspicion of murder after a 57-year-old man was found fatally injured on a bench has been released on Brown was found on a footpath with fatal injuries behind Auctioneers Court, Northampton, at about 06:30 BST on 1 Police said a 32-year-old man from Northampton who was arrested on Sunday has been released pending further investigation. Two other people previously arrested on suspicion of murder were also released on bail. A post-mortem examination on 2 August found Mr Brown had suffered an arm Brown's parents and brothers previously paid tribute to him and said he was "always full of fun".Det Insp Torie Harrison, who is leading the force's murder investigation, appealed for witnesses and said: "Our investigation is ongoing, and we continue to follow a number of lines of inquiry." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
Ask for Angela training offered to pubs in Northamptonshire
Free training has been offered to help hospitality staff respond to women who feel Northamptonshire Council organised the online session to raise awareness of the Ask for Angela research has shown that many bar and waiting staff did not know about the initiative and were not sure how to respond to it.A senior councillor said the training would help residents feel safe when using venues in the area. Ask for Angela was founded in 2016 by Hayley Crawford, a substance misuse co-ordinator in was named after Angela Crompton, who was killed by her the scheme, when a person uses the word "Angela" to hospitality employees, they discreetly intervene and help the person get to safety by reuniting them with friends, calling a taxi, or contacting the police if necessary. When the BBC filmed secretly in pubs and clubs across London last year, staff in more than half of the venues they visited did not respond to the codeword. The training, offered on the morning of 20 August, will teach safe intervention techniques that staff could use when they hear the name "Angela".The council is also calling for more venues to sign up for the scheme, to join places like The Wig and Pen and The Althorp Inn. Charlie Hastie, the Reform UK council's cabinet member for communities, said: "This training is really important both for our venues to feel confident in responding and intervening in situations, as well as for local residents and those that visit us to feel safe and supported when they visit."This training provides a great opportunity to raise awareness of this important initiative, and I really hope venues take this up by booking onto the session."The council said venues that sign up could have access to training opportunities as well as posters and stickers to promote the scheme. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Rachel Reeves's next inheritance tax raid will be her most pernicious yet
This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are already planning to apply death taxes to pensions in 18 months' time including, it was revealed this week, on the estates of the poor souls who die prematurely before they are even able to spend their money. Now, The Guardian, the Labour Party's newspaper of choice, is reporting that moves are afoot to curtail, or even cut off entirely, your ability to pass on money in your lifetime to avoid it being caught by inheritance tax when you're gone. A well-placed source told The Guardian: 'With so much wealth stored in assets like houses that have shot up in value, we have to find ways to better tap into the inheritances of those who can afford to contribute more.' It is understood that ministers are considering reforming the so-called 'seven-year rule' that allows assets given away within seven years of death to be granted a lower rate of inheritance tax, compared to the usual 40pc. Worse still, Reeves is also believed to be debating putting in a lifetime cap on the amount you can give away before death duties are due. I'm not at all surprised to hear the Chancellor and her increasingly desperate Treasury ministers are hatching new ways to gobble up our pensions. Despite stacks of evidence that wealth taxes won't work, a rump of Labour backbenchers and YouTube economists, such as Gary Stevenson, are convinced they are the answer to Britain's sickly public finances. Severely curtailing how much money people can give away to their children tax-free is a wealth tax – but one that will capture middle-class families, not just the truly wealthy. Since Reeves used her maiden Budget to announce that any money left in 'defined contribution' pensions would be brought into the inheritance tax net, savers have been accelerating the pace of the financial gifts they're handing to their descendants. The Government says the tax raid will raise around £1.5bn a year by 2029-30. But it has probably underestimated families' determination not to hand over an extra penny to HMRC than they need to – hence this latest attempt to close off any remaining legitimate ways to avoid the tax. While rumours so far are scant on detail, something that hasn't been mentioned is my favourite loophole: the 'gifts out of surplus income' rule. This allows unlimited sums to be handed down, so long as the gifts meet a stringent set of requirements (more details on how to qualify here). It would not surprise me if this particular allowance is for the chop. While used by relatively few estates, it is simply too generous for the Chancellor to ignore. My advice, as ever when it comes to inheritance tax, is not to delay any inheritances you were planning to make. Not only does a lifetime gift mean you get to see your family enjoy it, but I think there is less chance of any changes to the inheritance tax regime being retrospective. If you're not comfortable handing over large sums to your grandchildren, you can of course put the money directly into their junior Isas or pension accounts. A parent or grandparent can contribute up to £9,000 each year into an Isa, and up to £2,880 into a child's pension, regardless of the child's earnings. The pension will then have tax relief added at the basic 20pc rate, meaning the contribution is actually £3,600 a year. And there's another person who might welcome a lifetime gift: you. If you were considering that cruise or a big trip to Australia, now is the time to go for it. The whole point of building up a retirement fund is to make your golden years comfortable. Treat yourself.
