Banning Palestine Action may be ‘escalation too far', says Labour peer
Plans to ban protest group Palestine Action would mark a very serious step that may go too far, a former shadow attorney general has said.
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it is 'one thing' to be a threat to property, or to be a nuisance, but it is 'another thing altogether' for a whole group to be proscribed as terrorists.
She 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.'
The Labour peer's concerns come as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will update Parliament on Monday on the Government's plan to ban Palestine Action following the group's vandalism of two planes at an RAF base.
The group 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.
Meanwhile, a protest in support of Palestine Action is 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.
It comes as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley 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.'
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.'
Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said he could not rule out the possibility of a foreign power being behind Palestine Action.
The Business and Trade Secretary told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: 'It is extremely concerning they gained access to that base and the Defence Secretary is doing an immediate review of how that happened.
'The actions that they undertook at Brize Norton were also completely unacceptable and it's not the first. It's the fourth attack by that group on a key piece of UK defence infrastructure.'
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 Ms 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.
On Sunday, former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer said vandalising aircraft at RAF Brize Norton would not solely provide legal justification for proscribing the group.
He told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: 'I am not aware of what Palestine Action has done beyond the painting of things on the planes in Brize Norton, they may have done other things I didn't know.
'But generally, that sort of demonstration wouldn't justify proscription so there must be something else that I don't know about.'
But former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said the Government was 'abusing' anti-terror laws against pro-Palestine activists, as tens of thousands of protesters marched in London on Saturday.
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.'
Former home secretary Suella Braverman also said it was 'absolutely the correct decision'.
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 Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
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