Home Office wins proper to attraction in Palestine Action case after High Court judges stated banning group was illegal
The Home Office can appeal against the High Court’s decision that banning Palestine Action as a terror group was unlawful, judges have ruled.
Three judges ruled on February 13 that the Government’s move to proscribe the group was unlawful, and said that they ‘propose to make an order quashing’ the decision.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said after the decision that she would fight to prevent the proscription being lifted.
In an order on Wednesday, the Home Office was given the green light to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.
It comes after Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper last week defended her decision to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, insisting it was ‘not a normal protest group.’
Ms Cooper told Sky News: ‘I followed the clear advice and recommendations going through a serious process the Home Office goes through … which was very clear about the recommendation about prescription of this group.
‘The court has also concluded that this is not a normal protest group, it found that this group had committed actions of terrorism, that this group is not simply in line with democratic values and has promoted violence as well.’
The High Court’s ruling was a massive blow to the government and means that more than 2,000 people who were arrested for holding signs or displaying messages supporting the group may now have proceedings dropped.
Supporters celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice as the High Court rules that the ban on the activist group Palestine Action is unlawful. High Court Rules That The Ban On Palestine Action Is Unlawful, London, England, United Kingdom – 13 Feb 2026
Palestine Action co-founders Richard Barnard and Huda Ammori stand outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court ahead of Barnard’s hearing on terrorism-related charges linked to protests in Manchester and Bradford in October 2023. Palestine Action Co-founder in Court on Terror Charges, London, England, United Kingdom – 18 Sep 2024
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said after the decision last week that she would fight to prevent the proscription being lifted
Palestine Action founder Huda Ammori called it a ‘monumental victory’ for fundamental freedoms’.
Palestine Action was proscribed on July 5 last year by Ms Cooper after some high-profile violent protests, including a raid on a UK-based defence company that saw a female PC attacked with a sledgehammer.
As a result, being a member of, or showing support for, the group became an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said she was ‘appalled’ by the High Court’s ruling.
The Witham MP told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: ‘It is right that they feel the full force of our laws, including the proscription that has been put in place. They are on par with how terrorist organisations conduct themselves, and they plan their attacks.
‘I think the public would be absolutely horrified to see that these individuals have been able to essentially get away with the type of activity that they have been able to thus far.’
While the judges found that the decision should be quashed, they warned that the group remains banned pending Ms Mahmood’s appeal.
However, this distinction appears to have been lost on the Met Police, which said it would now stop arresting activists who express support for Palestine Action and merely ‘gather evidence’ against them instead.
A spokesman said: ‘Officers will continue to identify offences where support for Palestine Action is being expressed, but they will focus on gathering evidence of those offences and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date, rather than making arrests at the time.
Supporters of Palestine Action gather at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, United Kingdom, on February 13, 2026
Yvette Cooper said last week: ‘I followed the clear advice and recommendations going through a serious process the Home Office goes through … which was very clear about the recommendation about prescription of this group.
‘This is the most proportionate approach we can take, acknowledging the decision reached by the court while recognising that proceedings are not yet fully concluded.’
Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing – a UK-wide network of police and security service staff – said it would now enforce the proscription of Palestine Action ‘pragmatically’, raising the possibility it could also suspend arrests.
Lord Walney, who was appointed as an independent government advisor under the Conservatives, last week declared himself ‘deeply disappointed’.
‘It is right that the Home Secretary appeals this deeply disappointing verdict which risks sending a signal that far left activists can hold the country to ransom,’ he said.
‘While Palestine Action has deployed violence less frequently than other proscribed groups, the criminal damage they systematically inflict clearly falls within the legal definition of terrorism.’
