Anas Sarwar backs plan to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorist group after RAF base break-in
Anas Sarwar has said he supports UK Government plans to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
It come after six people were arrested on suspicion of a terror offence after the group shared footage online last week of RAF planes being spray-painted at a military base in Oxfordshire.
The group previously broke into a Thales defence factory in Glasgow in 2022, causing £1,130,783 in damages using pyrotechnics and smoke bombs.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said Palestine Action had a "long history" of criminal damage, and since 2024 "its activity has increased in frequency and severity".
Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following the Israeli invasion of the Palestinian enclave in 2023.
Asked by the Record today if he agreed with Cooper's decision, Sarwar said: "I'm all for freedom of speech. I'm all for freedom of protest. And people have been expressing their views very strongly.
"But people who use the name of Palestine to cross a red line, to break into RAF facilities, to attempt to tamper with RAF jets, are doing a disservice to the cause they claim to represent.
"There are so many phenomenal pro-Palestinian organisations who do not fall for acts of vandalism, or attacks on our defence infrastructure, or who fall into prejudice and hate, but who rightly speak out against violence and for peace - not just peace abroad, but peace and security here at home too.
"Those people who use the name of Palestine to do such horrific actions should face the full force of the law. So I do support the actions of the Home Secretary.
"Those people do not speak for Palestine or for peace. They are spoilers, who are hijacking their cause for their own end."
Sarwar added the scenes in Gaza of repeated bombings on civilian areas were a "stain on the international community".
He continued: "What's happening in Palestine is completely and utterly unacceptable. It's stain on the international community. What you're seeing is the collective punishment of an entire population, and clear breaches of international law from an Israeli Government that seems out of control.
"It seems to me that Benjamin Netanyahu is more interested in staying in power and staying out of jail than he is about doing the right or trying to find peace.
"What you have is the mass starvation of the people of Gaza, the continued illegal occupation of Gaza.
"At the same time, you have to call out the horrific actions of Hamas, a terrorist organisation that has continued to hold hostages who should be at home with their loved ones.
"So it's a devastating set of circumstances that shows we have to prioritise peace and diplomacy."
Patrick Harvie, the out-going co-leader of the Scottish Greens, described Sarwar's comments as "shameful".
He said: "Shameful for UK Labour to label protest as terrorism. Shameful for Labour's Scottish leader to agree, and to dismiss people protesting against genocide as "spoilers".
"I have no doubt there will be Labour members as outraged by this as anyone else. They need to take action."
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