Government defends Palestine Action ban ahead of legal case

Andy Burnham’s government will throw its weight behind a robust defence of the previous Labour regime’s controversial decision to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation , as the case goes to the supreme court this week. The position contradicts comments made by Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, who raised concerns earlier this year about the mass arrest of peaceful protesters, including retired vicars and hundreds of pensioners.

“I don’t think anyone’s intent was to have those people criminalised,” he told LBC in September. At least 140 people were arrested on Saturday outside the US embassy in south London while holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Many of those holding signs had grey hair, while some were on mobility scooters. Before the protest, the Metropolitan police released a statement warning those who planned to provide logistical support that they also faced arrest under terror laws, in what some considered an escalation in policing.

Palestine Action has also been sanctioned as a terror group by the US treasury. The Met said the location of the event had no bearing on the policing plan. The demonstration was attended by hundreds of people, a number at least matched by police. By the time the protest officially started at 1pm, more than 20 police vans were lined up in the road opposite the embassy, and another 10 had arrived by 1.15pm. A woman in a hi-vis vest marked “welfare”, who attended the protest in order to look after the wellbeing of attendees, said the Met’s warning had worried her but she turned up anyway.

“What are they going to be arresting me for? Excessive karma? Or distribution of bananas?” she said. She was worried that the warning could apply to “absolutely anybody who is standing around here today, observing or supporting – you,” she said, referring to The Observer , “the photographers, anybody”. Related articles: Russell Brand gained almost 2m followers after assault claims The laser that could reveal life’s hidden machinery Protester Marji Mansfield wore a red Maga-style baseball cap and carried a sign that said: “I support genocide, I oppose Palestine Action,” alongside a picture of Donald Trump.

The 70-year-old explained that she disagreed with Trump. “If I swap the order of two of these words, it’s a criminal offence, and I could face six months in jail,” she said. “This is a completely draconian overreach of our civil liberties. This is Halloween, but it’s really scary how quickly we’ve fallen into this. What has happened to this country?” This week’s hearing will decide whether the court of appeal was right to uphold the ban under the Terrorism Act 2000 that the high court had previously overturned in February .

The case, which is due to be heard on Wednesday and Thursday, rests on whether the appeal court in June properly interpreted the law in relation to the ban’s impact on article 10 and article 11 of the European convention on human rights (respectively the rights to freedom of expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association with others). Huda Ammori, a co-founder of the group which challenged the proscription in the high court, told The Observer : “The proscription of Palestine Action has seen an unprecedented attack on free speech and civil liberties in Britain, with nearly 4,000 arrests of protesters who simply held signs.”

He added: “In addition to those arrested, hundreds of thousands will be fearful to speak out against the ban, in case they are prosecuted under the Terrorism Act.” The 4,000 arrests involved an estimated 2,000 people, with many arrested multiple times for the same offence. There were a total of 5,734 arrests for terrorism in Britain between 11 September 2001 and 31 March 2025. Ammori’s supporters have been buoyed by what was seen to be a shift in rhetoric from the government on Palestine, including Miliband’s comments about proscription of the group and his speech at the Labour party conference, where he spoke of “evidence of war crimes in Gaza”.

In October, a senior Labour backbencher told The Observer that a “majority” of the party’s MPs supported a change in the group’s designation. But Burnham has described the proscription process as “rigorous and evidence-based”, while Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has remained bullish on the matter, drawing a comparison between those carrying signs in support of the group at demonstrations and “skinheads standing outside a mosque, holding up a placard saying: ‘I support National Action.’”

Last week, Andreas Malm, a Swedish climate academic, said he was barred from entering the UK by the Home Office, which he believes is because he was due to speak with Ammori on a panel. Last month, books by the author Sally Rooney were removed from UK shelves over her support for the group, effectively banning the sale of her work in the country. An editorial published jointly by the Jewish News and the Jewish Chronicle before the supreme court hearing accused Palestine Action of “targeting… the Jewish community”.

In response, hundreds of prominent Jewish voices, including Holocaust survivors and their families, wrote an open letter – seen by The Observer pre-publication – in support of the group. “We… reject any implication that Palestine Action was antisemitic or was directing its activities at Jewish people or businesses because they were Jewish,” they wrote. “There are a growing number of Jewish people speaking up and demonstrating for an end to the illegal occupation, the genocide in Gaza, the escalating violence in the West Bank and for the right to Palestinian self-determination.

These voices are rarely represented in legacy media.” The Home Office declined to comment before the case, but has been quick to point out that the high court had accepted the government’s argument that Palestine Action had been found to be involved in three “terrorist incidents” involving property damage to weapons factories, one of which left a police officer with a spinal injury after she was struck with a sledgehammer. Photograph by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Justice Courts Human rights News Politics National Terrorism Protest Palestine Action