Palestine Action is “to be banned” in the UK and labelled a terror group, says home secretary Yvette Cooper.
The group is set to become “proscribed” in the UK, meaning ‘outlawed’ or ‘banned’, effectively branding the group a terrorist organisation.
The news comes after the activist group claimed responsibility for a break in at RAF Brize Norton where two aircraft where vandalised with red paint.
Reports say the damage has totalled millions of pounds.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “the disgraceful attack on Brize Norton” on Friday was “the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action”.
She said a draft proscription order will be laid in parliament next week and if passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.
On Monday, hundreds of people met in Trafalgar Square as part of a Palestine Action protest. The protest had been set to take place outside Parliament but was moved after police enforced an exclusion zone across much of Westminster.
There were two arrests at the protest as some unrest broke out, with Met chief Sir Mark Rowley saying he was “shocked and frustrated” by the event.
He pointed out that the police had no legal power to stop the protest unless Palestine Action were proscribed.
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