Green Party peer says she will vote against proscribing Palestine Action
During a talk at Glastonbury Festival's Speakers Forum with Palestine Action activist Francesca Nadin, Baroness Jenny Jones said people inside the Lords had told her she 'should not be sharing a platform' with the group, but she added she was 'proud' to be with them.
It comes after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she would proscribe Palestine Action and would lay an order before Parliament in the coming days to make membership and support for them illegal, after a number of the group's members vandalised two planes at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Following the talk, Baroness Jones told the PA news agency: 'I've worked on policing issues, civil liberties and protests for more than 25 years, and I know very clearly, very well, that what the Government is doing to Palestine Action is not a legal act.
'They are not a terrorist organisation and, to be honest, if the Government proscribes them, there's going to be an outcry.
'Presumably, the legislation will come to the House of Lords, and I will definitely vote against it.
'It is bizarre, because it almost looks as if the Government is frightened of protest. I mean, that's something that I've seen with the Conservative government, but now with the Labour Government, we're seeing it as well.
'They actually don't like opposition of any sort, and that's not democracy, and what they are planning to do is not democratic.'
The 75-year-old said the group, along with fellow activist organisation Youth Demand, 'represent an energy and a future that quite honestly is beyond me at the moment', adding she was 'furious' with the Government during the talk.
She told PA: 'If some of us in the House of Lords vote against proscribing Palestine Action, will that make us liable for prosecution in some way or another?
'They've got a huge number of supporters, 250,000 at least, and I'm sure this particular action by the Government will give them even more supporters.
'The Government is going to find it very difficult to suppress the protest.'
Baroness Jones spoke as Irish rap trio Kneecap, who have seen one of their members charged with a terror offence, prepare to perform on the West Holts Stage at 4pm on Saturday.
Before the festival, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would not be 'appropriate' for them to perform their slot at Worthy Farm.
Rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh was charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year.
Last week, the 27-year-old, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in 'Free Mo Chara' T-shirts.
He was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing at the same court on August 20.
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