Good morning. Thousands of people across the UK have been arrested for holding a placard with a simple statement: ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.’
Those arrests, as well as the charges against more than 500 demonstrators under terrorism legislation, may now be unlawful
In a landmark judgment, the high court ruled on Friday that Labour’s decision to proscribe the direct action protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation last year was not legal.
The proscription of Palestine Action, which placed it alongside groups such as Islamic State, was the first time a direct action protest group had been banned under terrorism legislation. The move sparked a record-breaking civil disobedience campaign, during which more than 2,700 people were arrested. Palestine Action is now the first group in British history to successfully challenge its proscription.
It is worth noting that although the high court has ruled the ban unlawful, Palestine Action remains a proscribed organisation for now. The ban stays in place pending appeal.
To understand how we got here, and what happens next, I speak to Haroon Siddique, the Guardian’s legal correspondent. That’s after the headlines.
Five big stories
Defence policy | Britain and Germany’s highest ranking military leaders have made an unprecedented joint appeal to the public to accept the “moral” case for rearmament and prepare for the threat of war with Russia.
UK politics | Keir Starmer is facing calls by MPs for an inquiry into the commissioning of a report that made “baseless claims” about journalists who were investigating a thinktank linked to the prime minister.
Health | The number of women who are driven to suicide by domestic abusers is being under-reported, and their cases overlooked by police, in what has been described by experts as a “national scandal”.
Gaza | At least 12 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes in response to ceasefire violations by Hamas.
Epstein files | The UK’s top prosecutor has said “nobody is above the law” amid growing pressure on police to fully investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links with Jeffrey Epstein.
In depth: ‘The fate of those arrested and charged remains in limbo’
Palestine Action was founded in 2020 by Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard. The group predominantly targeted Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, which supplies weapons and drones to the Israeli Defence Forces.
Haroon Siddique tells me that the group also targeted other companies it believed to be complicit in Israel’s war in Gaza, which the UN committee said amounted to a genocide in September 2025.
“They did this by breaking into arms factories or other organisations they saw as complicit and smashing up equipment, and graffitiing the walls,” Haroon says. “They said it was in the aim of stopping the oppression of Palestinians.”
From 5 July 2025, it became illegal to be a member of, or to show support for, the group. The offence carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The proscription triggered one of the largest civil disobedience campaigns in modern British history.
“For nearly a year, we’ve seen pensioners, members of the clergy, war veterans, being carried away by police officers,” Haroon says, adding that these protesters were not “what the government always likes to call the usual suspects”.
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Why were they banned?
The government announced it would move to ban Palestine Action shortly after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and defaced two military aircraft.
Though anger had been building, the decision to use terrorism legislation surprised many in the legal community.
“The average person associates terrorism with extreme violence against the person, such as the likes of Islamic State, Boko Haram, and al-Qaida,” Haroon says.
But, he adds, under the Terrorism Act 2000, one of the criteria you can ban someone for is serious property damage.
“The serious property damage has to be linked to some kind of ideology, but I think it’s still surprising to a lot of people that serious property damage is sufficient,” he says.
During the court case, the government suggested Palestine Action was a violent group. But internal assessments disclosed in proceedings acknowledged this was a novel use of the law, Haroon says, because it was a group being banned primarily for damaging property.
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How was the ban challenged?
The challenge played out both in court and on the streets.
In court, Ammori brought a judicial review in the high court in London. Part of the hearing was held in closed session. Haroon explains that Palestine Action challenged the proscription on four grounds and succeeded on two.
“One was that it was a very significant interference with the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” he says. “That’s been the main argument on the street and by human rights groups and environmental groups who criticised the ban; that it impinges on the right to protest in particular.”
The second was that the then home secretary, Yvette Cooper’s, decision was not consistent with her own policy.
“It’s not enough to say that we think it’s a terrorist group,” Haroon says. “The act which enables proscription requires the home secretary to take into account factors such as the nature and scale of the organisation’s activities and the specific threat that it poses to the UK and other factors like that. It was deemed that the home secretary had not done that.”
In the streets, the challenge was led by Defend Our Juries. Thousands held placards reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
According to the group, more than 2,700 people were arrested. Of those, more than 500 are awaiting trial.
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What next?
On Friday, three judges, led by the president of the king’s bench division, Dame Victoria Sharp, ruled the decision to proscribe the group was unlawful but the ban on the group would remain to give the government time to appeal.
Simply put, it is still an offence to be a member of, or to support, Palestine Action.
“It means the fate of those 2,700 people arrested, and the more than 500 charged, remains very much in limbo,” Haroon says.
Ammori described the ruling as a “monumental victory”, saying the group had been banned not for national security reasons, but because the success of its disruption of Elbit Systems had cost the company millions of pounds and jeopardised contracts. She said the ban has “massively backfired” and called for proscription to be suspended pending any appeal.
After the ruling, the Metropolitan police said it would stop arresting people for showing support for Palestine Action while the legal position is clarified, though it may gather evidence for potential future prosecutions. The force acknowledged the “unusual circumstances” could cause confusion.
The current home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said she will appeal, stating she was “disappointed by the court’s decision”. The judgment, though historic, is therefore not the end of the story. Yesterday, Cooper said that she “followed the clear advice and recommendations, going through a serious process … involving different agencies and police advice as well, which was very clear about the recommendation for proscription of this group”. Supporting the decision to appeal, she said: “the court has also concluded that this is not a normal protest group, that it has found that this group has committed acts of terrorism, that this group is not simply in line with democratic values, and has promoted violence.”
However, an appeal is not guaranteed to go forward. “You still have to get permission to appeal,” Haroon says. “It’s possible permission could be denied, but if permission is granted then it could be many months before we get a resolution to what’s already been going on for a long time.”
For Keir Starmer, the ruling lands as yet another blow in a time marked by jeopardy for the prime minister and his party. Already facing criticism over his leadership, this judgment hands opponents another example of a high-stakes decision made by a Labour government now unravelling in real time.
Palestine Action was a relatively unknown group before proscription, Haroon says, but now, it has been splashed on the front pages as serving the government with a humiliating defeat.
What else we’ve been reading
I couldn’t stop smiling at the story of Rich Pelley gamely going about his day wearing oversized Lego-shaped Crocs. Katy Vans, newsletters team
I was shocked to learn the UK lost its measles-free status last month. This is a depressing and frightening read of the abrupt return of this deadly virus. Aamna
In preparation for the new Netflix series Reality Check about America’s Next Top Model, read Benjamin Lee’s piece on how many of us failed to spot just how toxic the show was on first watch. Katy
Keir Starmer is in a hole he can’t climb out of. How did things get so bad? Nesrine Malik offers her characteristically incisive take. Aamna
The forthcoming Labour education white paper will outline their plans for reform of the Send system. For parents of disabled children, and the rest of us, this will showcase how this government views disability and difference. Katy
Sport
Winter Olympics | Team GB had their greatest day at a Winter Olympics. Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker won gold in the mixed team skeleton, and Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale picked up their gold medal in the mixed team snowboard cross just a few hours earlier.
Rugby union | Wales took a humiliating beating from France at home at the Principality Stadium, losing 12-54 in the Six Nations, their 13th consecutive defeat.
Football | In the fourth round of the FA Cup a disappointed Birmingham got knocked out at home to Leeds after running to penalties, Sunderland beat Oxford United at home, and Wolves had an expected victory against league two side Grimsby. No surprises at the Emirates where Arsenal had an emphatic 4-0 win against Wigan.
The front pages
“Revealed: the truth toll of suicides with domestic abuse at their core” is top story at the Guardian. The i paper leads on “UK to cut Russia defence fund as Kremlin poison threat revealed” and the FT has “Kremlin enlists former Wagner group agents for Europe sabotage campaign”. The Telegraph splashes on “Trump to give Koran burner US refuge” and the Times says “Under-16s social media ban may happen this year”. The Mirror leads on “The Great British water shame”, in a story about sewage spills, and the Mail headlines on “So what are the police waiting for?”, in relation to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the Epstein files. The Sun says “£500k phone compo for migrants”.
Today in Focus
How an undercover cop foiled an IS plot to massacre Britain’s Jews
The Guardian’s community affairs correspondent, Chris Osuh, reports on the plot by two IS terrorists to massacre Jews in Manchester, and how it was thwarted by an undercover sting.
Cartoon of the day | Tom Gauld
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Britain’s climate defence on the Lancashire coast looks surprisingly festive: tens of thousands of discarded Christmas trees are buried along beaches south of Blackpool to rebuild sand dunes lost to rising seas. Volunteers have done this for over 30 years, but the effort has intensified as sea levels rise and storms erode the coastline.
Lancashire has lost about 80% of its dunes since the 1800s, leaving communities exposed. The buried trees quickly trap sand, forming dunes that protect homes and create vital wildlife habitat. Sand lizards, absent for 60 years, were reintroduced in 2020 and are now breeding.
Holly Moeller, an artist who has painted a watercolour of the dunes, finds solace in this space. “When I’ve struggled with mental health, there’s something about the coast and the dunes that is big enough to hold that.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
