Cooper says Palestine Action ‘more than a regular protest group’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has labelled Palestine Action more than “a regular protest group” as she defended the group’s proscription as a terrorist organisation.
She said protest and free speech remain “an important part of our democracy” which will “always be protected”, but argued Palestine Action has carried out “an escalating campaign”.
Writing in The Observer, she said: “Some may think it is a regular protest group known for occasional stunts. But that is not the extent of its past activities.”
Counterterrorism
Ms Cooper said counterterrorism intelligence showed the organisation passed the tests to be proscribed under the 2000 Terrorism Act with “disturbing information” about future attacks.
“Protecting public safety and national security are at the very heart of the job I do,” she said. “Were there to be further serious attacks or injuries, the government would rightly be condemned for not acting sooner to keep people safe.”
She said only a tiny minority of people who had protested in support of Palestinian people since the start of the war with Israel had been arrested.
“That is why the proscription of this group is not about protest or the Palestinian cause,” she said.
“In a democracy, lawful protest is a fundamental right but violent criminality is not.”
Arrests
The Metropolitan Police said on Friday more than 700 people have been arrested since the group was banned on July 5.
The force said a further 60 people will be prosecuted for support of Palestine Action, while Norfolk Police said on Saturday 13 people were arrested at a protest in Norwich.
Last week, the Met confirmed the first three charges in England and Wales for offences under the Terrorism Act relating to Palestine Action.
The three people charged were arrested at a protest in Parliament Square on July 5.
More prosecutions are expected in the coming weeks, and arrangements have been put in place “that will enable us to investigate and prosecute significant numbers each week if necessary”, the Met said.
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As Chancellor, we’ve heard a lot about Rachel Reeves ‘backing herself into a corner’ on the economy. Well, look at Yvette Cooper backing herself into a corner requiring her resignation on what i admit is a potential grim near future prediction. I dearly hope that this does not come to pass BUT when the ‘Tice terrorist’ vigilante squads hit the streets of England and kill their first innocent victim, she will surely be forced to proscribe Reform UK as a terrorist organisation making it illegal to be a member or supporter of it and of course to be a standing… Read more »
Considering the way Labour have been behaving, they will probably consider merging with Deform and make Garage the Chancellor.
Trust me Amir. My jury is very much out on Labour but because they are the incumbent government, I’m living in possibly misguided hope that they will find their moral compass in the latter half of their stay, which they will have to do to save themselves. They will have to seize all the ground which will destroy Toryform OR go down in history as BEING THEM.
Proscription, if appropriate, should follow the publication of evidence one would have thought.
Without that it looks like massive overreach.
Spot on! I felt so strongly about this, and for the precise reason that you cite, that I e-mailed my MP. It took a while, but I eventually got the rather bland – “if you knew what the minister knows … but in view of possible impending prosecution we can say no more” – response that I rather expected. In fairness to my MP, she’s a back-bench ‘rookie’ elected for the first time last year, so it’s perhaps not unnatural that she follows the official line. But I stick to my own view that it won’t do, and the decision’s… Read more »
That’s really the sticky point. How to present any evidence without compromising the source. Has the government panicked and gone over the top, or is it a measured response based on intelligence findings.
Considering past activities… I believed they had planned disruptive activities to make the main london trading center unusable for a bit. A zero casualty 9-11 if you will where the workers can return to office in a few days.
But aside from such disruption to the governments and some private enterprises coffers, no one has been attacked/killed/injured at any of PA’s actions so far as I can tell, or even come under threat of such.
So you’re saying they are more XR or Just Stop Oil. Mind you, much as I would like to see the Stock Exchange disappear into a black hole, I think there might be unintended consequences. And even an opportunity for some traders to make bags more money.
No, more like the Suffragettes. The Suffragettes destroyed many letterboxes, destroyed thousands of shop fronts, cut telephone wires, burned down buildings, destroyed art paintings by slashing them, they even planted a couple of bombs such as one at St Paul’s Cathedral. Between them, they caused about 2 billion pounds worth of damage over between 1913 and 1914. Their actions were primarily against property not people.
There would be unfortunately unintended consequences there always are with any action. But no less than 10 years later, Women won the right to vote.
Yes, that was to influence British politicians and domestic politics. Not sure how much influence PA actions would have on a criminal like Netanyahu, if anything it would distract from what he’s doing, and turn people off from a just cause. A bit like ‘Just Stop Oil’?
PA aren’t trying to influence Netanyahu directly, they’re trying to get the UK to stop supporting by sending equipment, providing intelligence and such. The UK government is still shipping parts to Israel for their jets that have been used to kill civilians but aside from the UK government’s position, there are also other private businesses in the UK still shipping stuff to Israel. No doubt Israel also has financial investments in the UK which, as per Russia could be seized. PA’s actions ‘could’ theoretically at least, push the government into taking the necessary steps to make life harder for Netanyahu… Read more »
Hypocrite Home Secretary Yvette Cooper should learn lessons from history. She as part of war criminal Keir Starmer’s cabinet are not only responsible for supplying apartheid Israel with jet & drone parts including intelligence responsible for the genocide of over 60,000+ innocient Palestinians civilians but the deaths of numerous British aid workers killed trying to save lives. Makes you think who the real terrorists are? And less we forget. Yvette Cooper is in her position as a female Home Secretary because of the Suffrage Movement who in their time used direct action, in some cases violence, that included attacking golf… Read more »
The real terrorists are Hamas. I look forward to their surrender and the release of the hostages so we can have peace and a two-state solution.
The real evil is the zionist government that propped Hamas in the first place to oppose Abbas. Though I agree release the hostages and both Hamas and zionist government resign.
Nothing wrong with zionism. It’s the Jewish homeland and has been for thousands of years. They have a right to be there as do the Arabs etc.
Has it really been their homeland for thousands of years… history seems to tell another story.
Nope. It doesn’t. It’s all there.
Read my comment again.
I think there is problem with Zionism. It has fanatical elements that deny Palestinian equality and a 2 state solution. Netanyahu has lost any claim to a moral superiority over Hamas, they both seek the eradication of the other. Israelis protesting against the current regime and its actions are gaining ground, some small hope perhaps.
Sure Hamas killed, raped, pillaged… about a thousand civilians. Israel… about more than 50,000 and trying to starve out the rest. You don’t wipe out terrorists by becoming terrorists.
Kinda what happens when you do the first bit…
That’s an abhorrent thing to say. Babies and Children, innocent civilians do not deserve to be bombed, starved or denied medical treatment. I do not for a second a six year old child was in any way involved in the attack on Israel.
Fair enough, but not so sure as you about Israel’s assessment of Hamas.
I’d say Israel’s leaders are 60 + times as cruel, and their word is not worth a light anyway. This time we have cast iron evidence of depravity in progress – in the past most of us only saw the end result.
1936-2025.
Would we as supporters of the actions of ‘The Penyberth 3’ (who voluntarily yielded themselves up to the local constabulary for their actions) have been branded as ‘terrorists’?
Would Lewis, Valentine and Jones be compared to Hamas in the UK Parliament?
Would Plaid (Genedlaethol) Cymru have been proscribed as ‘a terrorist organisation’?
PAG have always seemed like a deeply unpleasant bunch so it’s great to have seen them curtailed. I also have a bit of sympathy for Cooper here as she can’t give up the other evidence against them on national security grounds.
Palestine Action are no where as unpleasant as the evil zionist government intent on genocide and ethnic cleansing of a semitic Palestinian population.
Nah, PAG are much worse. They wants the Jews to be eradicated and have said so many times, hence why they have rightfully been banned.
Evil zionist government exterminated several thousand lives. PAG zero. I don’t see the comparison.
“They wants the Jews to be eradicated and have said so many times, hence why they have rightfully been banned.”
A complete lie, entirely without foundation.
We are way beyond the point where anyone takes these people remotely seriously. Starmer, Reeves, Cooper, Nandy et al. Any credibility or shred of integrity forfeited long ago, “they lie and they lie and they lie”. I’ve never known a “government” quite like this and I’ve lived from Wilson to Thatcher to date. It’s poison and will not end well.
Navigating away from decades of neoliberal economics takes time. Ordinary people have paid for Thatcher, Osborne, the 2008 banking crisis and Brexit. That the current government can suddenly switch to a more balanced economy is like stopping an oil tanker and changing course.
The protests against Israel’s Netanyahu are not the problem, being used by an opaque organisation could be.
“Navigating away from decades of neoliberal economics takes time” sic
Than you for that hilarity. If you believe that’s what Reeves “fiscal rules/my friends the bankers” et al and their billionaire hedge funds and finance backers are about then I’m sure you’ll be ecstatic on Christmas day when Santa leaves you that foil wrapped carrot. Just don’t eat it all at once.
Well, the last time a government ignored the bond market, Truss became a household name. Its a mistake to underestimate how successful capital has been in capturing every corner of political manoeuvre. Both Corbyn and Farage would find the same should either gain power.
The implication is that there is more behind PA than a lot of very well meaning protesters.
There’s a hell of a lot more behind Yvette Cooper. Israel and the Labour Friends of its genocide. Joined at the hip.
Without knowing the source of any intelligence about funding or infiltration its hard to make any judgement. Protests in support of the Palestinians and Gaza don’t need ‘Palestine Action’ to make their point.
Are you sure about that, because last I checked there’s a genocide going on and waving placards isn’t getting the job done apparently.
‘Getting the job done’ is down to Trump. Withdrawal of US support economic and military would force a political change within Israel.
We’re still shipping parts and resources to Israel, I’m pretty sure they have bank accounts and financial structures over here that we could seize in the same way that we did for Russia. Symbolically, we could cut diplomatic ties with Israel and limit the power of their lobbying groups. These are things that the UK can change right now, unilaterally without needing support from the US or the EU. The UK needs to show that it is against genocide no matter who perpetuates it, but at the moment… it seems if you’re a Palestinian civilian or a journalist, the UK… Read more »
Of course Palestine Action is more than a protest group, it’s a direct action group, they do direct action things. Yvette Cooper would have declared the Suffragettes as terrorists and she needs take a good long, hard look in the mirror about her priorities and whether she should be supporting ethnic cleansing or not.
In a just world any “human rights lawyer” who attempts to repressively clamp down on the democratic right to protest would be struck off, removed from political office, and possibly exiled along with his political allies. Maybe we need to be more like Bangladesh for a change.