While Palestine Action are often childish, self-righteous berks - is banning the group really the correct decision?

23 June 2025, 17:43 | Updated: 24 June 2025, 00:37

By Andrew Marr

@AndrewMarr9

Palestine Action was today banned by the Government.

The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper used anti-terrorism laws to make it a criminal offence to belong to the group – which means anyone who joins it, promotes it, arranges meetings for it or even carries its logo in public could face up to 14 years in jail.

That puts it in the same category as Hamas, Al Qaeda or Isis but not the IRGC - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Let me be crystal clear. Although there are, no doubt, members of Palestine Action who are thoughtful, reasonable and well-informed, I think the group in general are childish, self-righteous berks.

They include people who want to eradicate the state of Israel and I’ve seen placards defending the Mullahs of Iran, one of the most oppressive and reactionary regimes on the planet.

Palestine Action includes other people who apparently think splashing a bit of red paint on an aircraft will persuade Keir Starmer to change his mind about the Middle East - though I have to add, thank goodness it was Palestine action who broke through a rickety wooden fence into a poorly protected RAF base, not, for instance, an Iranian sleeper cell.

One Palestine action person hit a police officer with a sledgehammer in Bristol – terrible, hope they get chucked in jug – but that seems to be a one off.

The group is, to sum up, undoubtedly counter-productive and unfriendly to the British state. But terrorists, really? Where does this end?

The Irish novelist Sally Rooney has supported them. So is she to be put behind bars as a dangerous backer of terrorism? Terrorism means murder and mayhem, trying to scare people witless, Which is why it’s called terrorism.

I don’t really see any of that in this; although, perhaps, the state knows things I don’t. An RAF Voyager aircraft is valuable but it has no feelings. This is a clunking, oppressive and silly move by ministers losing their sense of proportion. What’s next?

Every struggling author, writer of folk songs and media influencer announcing their support for Palestine Action just to see what happens. Wouldn’t be at all surprised.

There are big embarrassments ahead and not necessary, and self-inflicted.

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