Britainupdated 1h ago2 min read
Metropolitan Police Say Sarah Helm Post On Palestine Action Did Not Meet Criminal Threshold
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Metropolitan Police ruled the post did not merit a criminal investigation. Palestine Action is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.
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Police clear Sarah Helm
Metropolitan Police determined that a social media post by Sarah Helm, the wife of Britain’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell, did not merit a criminal investigation after officers reviewed the post and ruled it "did not meet the criminal threshold. No further police action will be taken."
Sarah Helm posted on X on Thursday: "God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action," after publisher Faber said this week that its Irish author Sally Rooney could not sell her books in the UK because of her plans to use royalties to support Palestine Action.
A government spokesperson said Helm’s comments did not represent the government in any capacity, and Downing Street distanced itself from her comment on Friday.
Amnesty International said more than 3,500 people have been arrested in the UK for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since it was banned last year, many of them for holding up placards.
Palestine Action challenged the government’s decision to ban the group, and the Court of Appeal ruled in June that the proscription was lawful.
MP questions Powell
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns raised concerns over whether Jonathan Powell, the National Security Advisor, can remain in his post after his wife Sarah Helm’s references to Palestine Action on social media. Kearns wrote to the prime minister questioning whether Powell's position is still tenable, despite the Metropolitan Police concluding no action was necessary over Helm’s comments. A Downing Street spokeswoman told the BBC: "These views are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity."
Kearns told the BBC: "We cannot have the NSA's wife tweeting about what decisions her husband has or hasn't made." The BBC said an appeal against the proscription of Palestine Action is due to be heard by the Supreme Court next month, after the battle had gone on for more than year.
Parliament, sanctions, consulate
In the House of Lords, Baroness Ludford asked: "Were Sarah Helm’s posts ignored or were they accepted as OK?" after parliamentarians raised the issue of whether Helm had been included when Powell was vetted for his post. Lord Callanan said he asked how Helm could know if Powell was involved or not, when "none of us know who in government was involved in that decision". Baroness Fiona Twycross stressed that it was important to maintain the distinction between government employees and their families, and she said Helm did not represent the government.
“Were Sarah Helm’s posts ignored or were they accepted as OK?”
The National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell visited Israel earlier this month to persuade the Israeli government not to close the UK’s consulate general in Jerusalem, and the Consulate opened in 1838 and handles relations with Palestinians in the city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza. The National said the UK imposed sanctions aimed at illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the Israeli government was turning a blind eye to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.