
Tom Swarbrick 4pm - 6pm
21 June 2025, 20:30 | Updated: 23 June 2025, 09:20
Damage caused to military aircraft and infrastructure by two Pro-Palestine activists last week will cost the defence industry at least £30 million.
Two Pro-Palestine activists broke into RAF Brize Norton last week and damaged military aircraft in a high-profile security breach at the UK’s largest airbase.
The attacks have cost the defence industry at least £30million. It is feared that the damage caused to the engine of one plane may render the aircraft unsafe to be used again and could cost £25 million to replace.
While the extent of the damage is still being investigated, it is thought that red paint sprayed in to the turbine of the engine has caused irreparable damage.
Other costs are believed to be attributed to repairs to warehouses, research facilities and factories, lost working time from the disruption, and the extra security firms have been forced to invest in to prevent further attacks by Palestine Action.
Video footage posted online after the attack showed the pair of activists riding electric scooters across the runway before targeting two Airbus Voyager aircraft – spraying red paint into their engines using repurposed fire extinguishers. Crowbars were also used to cause further damage to the planes.
Activists also sprayed paint across the runway and left a Palestinian flag behind before leaving the base undetected.
Palestine Action, the group behind the attack, says it was a direct intervention to stop British support for Israel, claiming the UK is “an active participant” in what it calls “genocide” in Gaza.
Activists from Palestine Action are feared to have cost the government and firms making equipment for the British military as much as £55 million.
The group said: “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli jets. By decommissioning two military planes, we’ve broken the chains of oppression.”
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is set to proscribe Palestine Action on Monday.
A group of peers has called for the law to be tightened to make it easier for the police to stop all kinds of “organisations which cause destruction”.
There have been growing concerns about the ability of the police to combat criminal action by protest groups such as Palestine Action.
Lord Walney, the government’s former extremism adviser, will table an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords.
The amendment will give the police more powers to stop the direct actions by activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Youth Demand.
His “criminal protest proscription” amendment would represent a major overhaul in how such groups are policed in the UK.
Lord Walney plans to table the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which has reached the House of Lords, in coming weeks.
“The police need new powers to be able to tackle and disrupt extreme protest groups like Palestine Action, who have been allowed to cause mayhem and destruction for the past five years,” Lord Walney said.
If implemented the new law would restrict activist groups' abilities to fundraise and their right to assembly in the UK. It could also prevent them from posting on social media and live-streaming actions that they take.
The proposal is expected to have support from up to 42 peers who have this weekend signed a letter sent to Ms Cooper requesting a meeting to discuss how to “prevent or disrupt further attacks”.
Groups including Youth Demand, Just Stop Oil, Greenpeace and Amnesty have spoken about restrictions on the right to protest in the UK.
Recent legislation including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Crime and Policing Bill 2023 placed new restrictions on the right to protest and criminalised forms of direct protest action used by activist groups.
Hundreds of activists from various groups have been arrested under these offences since the introduction of the legislation.
In a five-year campaign Palestine Action has conducted 356 attacks on sites across the UK.
118 Palestine Action activists were convicted of criminal offences between 2020 and 2024 for attacks on British-based companies linked to Israel, with 33 found not guilty of offences at trial. There are 17 trials continuing relating to direct action protests by Palestine Action.
A Palestine Action spokesman said: “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spyplanes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.”