NEC member challenges Starmer over Palestine Action ban

An NEC member raised concerns about the proscription of Palestine Action with the Prime Minister at a recent party meeting.

At the latest meeting of the National Executive Committee, Ann Black expressed the concerns of members with Keir Starmer regarding the decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, following a security breach by Palestine Action at RAF Brize Norton.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper accused the organisation of planning a “nationwide campaign of direct criminal action against businesses and institutions”.

However, Black said that “many members see their actions as comparable to the Greenham Common women who broke into RAF bases, but not on a par with Al-Qaeda”.

In her latest NEC report, Black noted that the Prime Minister said that “all organisations are held to the same standard, and Palestine Action has a history of break-ins and sabotage”.

Starmer also reportedly told members of the NEC that the proscription is “not intended to stifle debate on Palestine”, although Black said that arrests following the ban have “clogged up courts and police stations with pensioners for holding placards and Private Eye cartoons”.

Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori has been granted permission from the High Court to bring a legal challenge to the Home Secretary’s decision to ban the group. Ammori argued the ban was having a chilling effect on freedom of speech and freedom of protest.

The court’s ruling came a day after Keir Starmer announced the UK would recognise the state of Palestine before the UN General Assembly is held in September, unless Israel agrees to a series of conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza, a commitment to not annex any land in the West Bank and work towards a long-term peace process with a two-state solution.

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