In a speech to peers, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti has called for the government to consider proscribing Patriot Platform as a terror group in the same way as Palestine Action
Shabana Mahmood should consider outlawing far-right group Patriot Platform under terrorism laws like Palestine Action, peers have been told.
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti said there is a risk of perceived double standards if similar action is not taken against the anti-migrant group led by Danny “Tommo” Thomas.
Balaclava-clad followers have brought chaos to Dover and Portsmouth this month, and Thomas has spoken about blockading sites housing asylum seekers. Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti said in a Lord Speaker’s lecture that the government must look at proscribing the group as a terror organisation.
Hundreds of Palestine Action supporters have been arrested after the same action was taken against it in July 2025. Baroness Chakrabarti, a barrister and human rights activist who served as shadow attorney general from 2016 to 2020, said: “I maintain my view that the proscription of Palestine Action was a disproportionate and counterproductive mistake, given the breadth of that movement and the possibility of prosecuting the violent few rather than the peaceful many.
“That issue is of course pending before the Supreme Court. Still, I wonder whether it isn’t time to at least give consideration to the proscription of the so-called Patriot Platform after recent events on our south coast. That is if we, as legislators, are not to lose the public over inaction in the face of rising threats, and perceived double standards.”
Patriot Platform sparked alarm earlier this month when a large group of masked men blocked the Port of Dover, claiming to be stopping small boat crossings. Thomas has indicated more such demonstrations are likely in the coming weeks and months, saying in an interview with fellow rabble rouser Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon: “I predict in the next six months, the Patriot Platform, with one message through a secure app, will be able to bring five to 10,000 people to a location within a matter of hours.”
And he hinted that Piddington in Oxfordshire could be targeted, with men camping for days around a former MoD site set to house more than 1,200 male asylum seekers.
The group’s actions have sparked calls for a blanket ban on face coverings. Under current law police can arrest people who wear coverings in a designated area during protests.
Baroness Chakrabarti said: “To be clear, I have spoken against the blanket banning of face coverings at protests. We must protect the immune compromised and those who reasonably fear repercussions when protesting outside the embassy of a repressive state or office of an abusive employer.
“Nonetheless, political uniforms in public were understandably banned by section 1 of the Public Order Act 1936. The year is pertinent.”
More than 3,000 people are believed to have been arrested for showing support for Palestine Action since it was proscribed. At one protest in April the Met Police arrested 523 aged between 16 and 87.
In June the Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terror organisatin was legal. Co-founder Huda Ammori has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
The Home Office declined to comment.