UK moves to ban protest group Palestine Action

LONDON: The UK government announced on Monday it would ban campaign group Palestine Action under anti-terror laws following a “disgraceful attack” on Britain´s largest air force base last week.

The group denounced the proposed ban, announced by interior minister Yvette Cooper, as an “unhinged reaction” and its supporters scuffled with police in central London as they protested the move.

On Friday, Palestine Action activists broke into the RAF Brize Norton base in southern England, raising questions about security at the site and embarrassing Prime Minister Keir Starmer´s Labour government.

A video posted by the group showed two activists spraying a plane with red paint while roaming the base on scooters. Counter-terror police are investigating the incident. Cooper said the vandalism at the base was “the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage” committed by the group since it formed in 2020.

“In several attacks, Palestine Action has committed acts of serious damage to property with the aim of progressing its political cause and influencing the government,” Cooper said in a statement. She announced she would lay a draft order before parliament next Monday that would ban the group under Britain´s Terrorism Act of 2000. Labour holds a massive majority in parliament, meaning the proposal should pass easily.