Government appeal against high court ruling could have implications for right to protest and lead to other groups being proscribed
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will have her appeal against the high court ruling that the ban on Palestine Action was unlawful heard in the court of appeal this week, beginning on Tuesday. The Guardian explains the history of the case and what is at stake.
In June of last year, Mahmood’s predecessor Yvette Cooper announced plans to ban Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act, three days after it claimed responsibility for a break-in at RAF Brize Norton, during which red paint was sprayed into the turbines of two military aircraft.
Palestine Action, which targeted the UK factories of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and others it said were complicit in the killing of Palestinians, said it targeted the RAF Voyager planes because they were being used in refuelling to support Israeli military operations, although a UK defence source said they were not involved in such activities.
Cooper sought to justify the ban, the first on a direct action group under the Terrorism Act, placing it alongside the likes of Islamic State and Boko Haram, by saying that Palestine Action had “a long history of unacceptable criminal damage” and was a threat to national security. Previously activists had been prosecuted for offences such as criminal damage.
