As the High Court rightly concluded yesterday, the Government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was “unlawful” and should be “quashed”. Pickthall House welcomes this ruling and the protection of Britain’s fundamental civil liberties and freedom of expression through the due process of the British judicial system. As Justice Victoria Sharp noted, the banning of Palestine Action “did result in a very significant interference with the right of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly”. The case may now proceed to the Supreme Court, but Pickthall House calls on the Government to act appropriately and repeal the ban immediately, before further embarrassment.

As for claims of foreign interference in British politics, the Government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, stated that he was “not aware” of any evidence behind Government claims that Palestine Action was linked to Hamas or Iran. However, correspondence has revealed that the Home Office did reassure the foreign-owned arms company Elbit Systems that it “cares about the harm” caused to its property by Palestine Action.

Pickthall House calls upon the Government to repeal what was a misguided and authoritarian ban, lest such politically motivated proscriptions set a dangerous precedent for free speech in Britain. Already individuals and groups on both the left and right of the political spectrum have suffered from the Government’s draconian approach to free speech, such as Lucy Connolly who was sentenced to 31 months in prison for a tweet stirring up racial hatred in the aftermath of the July 2024’s Southport killings. Regardless of one’s views on the criminality of Palestine Action’s conduct or Connolly’s rhetoric, Britain’s long tradition of freedom of expression should be protected from government overreach.