Palestine Action's behaviour ‘totally unacceptable', Chancellor says

Glasgow Times

7 days ago

Rachel Reeves condemned Palestine Action ahead of an update from the Home Secretary to Parliament on the Government's plan to proscribe it under terror laws.
A protest in support of Palestine Action is also due to take place in London on Monday.
The group posted on X that the protest location has moved to Trafalgar Square after the Metropolitan Police banned action from taking place at the Houses of Parliament.
Asked whether Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley should be able to ban Monday's demonstration, the Chancellor told broadcasters: 'What I would say about Palestine Action is that their behaviours in the last few weeks, and particularly in the last few days, are totally unacceptable.
'To cause damage to military assets, but also to cause such damage to privately owned assets, it is unacceptable whatever your views are on what's happening in the Middle East.
'These actions are unacceptable and the Home Secretary will be making a statement to Parliament later today.'
A Number 10 spokesman said Palestine Action has committed 'unacceptable actions that risk our security', adding: 'We keep the list of proscribed organisations under constant review.'
On Sunday, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark said he was 'shocked and frustrated' at the protest supporting the 'organised extremist criminal group' as the force imposed an exclusion zone around Westminster.
He said that until the group is proscribed, the Met has 'no power in law' to prevent the protest taking place, adding that breaches of the law would be 'dealt with robustly'.
In a statement on Sunday, Sir Mark said: 'I'm sure many people will be as shocked and frustrated as I am to see a protest taking place tomorrow in support of Palestine Action.
'This is an organised extremist criminal group, whose proscription as terrorists is being actively considered.
'Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft.
'The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest.'
Pro-Palestinian activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire (Palestine Action/PA)
Palestine Action posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday morning.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine.
The incident is being investigated by counter-terror police.
Palestine Action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
But Baroness Shami Chakrabarti told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday that plans to ban the group would mark a very serious step.
The former shadow attorney general said: 'From what I can tell, this is a militant protest group that engages in direct action and that includes criminality, no question, but to elevate that to terrorism so anybody who attends a meeting, or who promotes the organisation, or is loosely affiliated with it, is branded a terrorist – that is a serious escalation I think.'
The former director of the Liberty human rights group added: 'No doubt the Home Secretary will come to Parliament today and she will explain her reasoning and announce what she is actually going to do.
'I think this is a very serious step and I would share the concerns of Amnesty International, of Liberty, my former group, and others that this may be an escalation too far.'
A spokesperson for Palestine Action previously accused the UK of failing to meet its obligation to prevent or punish genocide.
The spokesperson said: 'When our Government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.'
The Home Secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is 'concerned in terrorism'.
Proscription will require Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers.
Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company the Wagner Group.
Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the news that Ms Cooper intended to proscribe Palestine Action, saying: 'Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.'