Sally Rooney could be arrested under Terrorism Act after pledging royalties to Palestine Action
Meanwhile, No 10 said that supporting the group was an offence under the act, after Rooney had made her pledge.
Royalties from Rooney's books, including Normal People and Conversations with Friends, along with BBC adaptations of them, would be used to support Palestine Action, she wrote in the Irish Times over the weekend.
The legal expert also said that the bestselling writer could face prosecution if she were to express her views at, for example, a UK book festival, underscoring the proscription's 'gross disproportionality'.
While the prime minister's spokesperson would not respond to the author's comments specifically, they said that there was 'a difference between showing support for a proscribed organisation, which is an offence under the Terrorism Act, and legitimate protest in support of a cause', according to the Press Association.
Asked what message No 10 would give to people considering donating money to Palestine Action, the spokesperson said: 'Support for a proscribed organisation is an offence under the Terrorism Act and obviously the police will, as they have set out, implement the law as you'd expect.'
More than 700 people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in relation to the group since it was proscribed in early July, many of whom were detained at a peaceful protest on 9 August in Parliament Square, London.
'My books, at least for now, are still published in Britain, and are widely available in bookshops and even supermarkets,' wrote Rooney on Saturday. 'In recent years the UK's state broadcaster has also televised two fine adaptations of my novels, and therefore regularly pays me residual fees. I want to be clear that I intend to use these proceeds of my work, as well as my public platform generally, to go on supporting Palestine Action and direct action against genocide in whatever way I can.'
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation after activists broke into an RAF base in Oxfordshire and spray painted two planes. They 'knew, of course, that their actions were illegal', Rooney wrote in the Guardian in June. 'From the suffragettes to the gay rights movement to the anti-apartheid struggle, genuine political resistance has always involved intentional law-breaking.'
In her Irish Times article last weekend, Rooney said that she 'would happily publish this statement in a UK newspaper – but that would now be illegal'. Rooney's books also include Beautiful World, Where Are You and, most recently, Intermezzo.
The lawyer and writer Sadakat Kadri said: 'Receiving money with the intention of using it to support terrorism is an offence under section 15 of the 2000 act. That means Rooney could be arrested without a warrant as a 'terrorist'.'
He added that 'the absurdities don't end there', and said the decision of the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to bracket Palestine Action with groups such as Islamic State meant the BBC would also be criminally liable if it continued to pay royalties to Rooney in view of her stated intentions.
'Authoritarian governments routinely threaten writers and intimidate broadcasters, but I find it quite extraordinary that Labour under Keir Starmer has now chosen to go down the same path.'
Asked whether Rooney could face legal repercussions if she, for example, spoke at a book festival in the UK, Kadri said that 'there's certainly a risk she'd fall foul' of the law. If Rooney expressed 'her views in terms of condemning the war crimes being committed in Gaza, an arguable case for prosecution could be made out'.
'Saying that isn't for one moment an attempt to justify the statute,' said Kadri, which he described as 'a shameful attack' on free speech. 'It's just a particularly stark illustration of the measure's gross disproportionality.'
Mike Schwarz, head of the public inquiry team at the legal firm Hodge Jones & Allen, said that 'anyone providing money which might, in the state's eyes, fund 'terrorism' and, separately, anyone supporting an organisation proscribed under terrorism legislation runs a very real risk of serious police interest and prosecution for grave offences in the UK. This seems particularly the case in the current febrile political climate surrounding Palestine Action.'
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