The Guardian view on Palestine Action: banning the group was a step too far

Trafalgar Square, London, in October 2025: ‘The government will appeal and the ban stands for now. An indication of how unlikely the appeal may be to succeed is that London’s Met police has stopped arresting protesters.’ Photograph: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

The high court ruled last week that the British government’s proscription of Palestine Action is unlawful and disproportionate. Its judgment, however, is hardly one in praise of militant protest. That makes it all the more awkward for ministers. The bench rejected Palestine Action’s claim that it was engaged in Gandhian civil disobedience. The judges also accepted that a number of incidents involved serious property damage that technically satisfied the statutory definition of terrorism.

But they were clear and correct: the existing criminal law “is available to prosecute those concerned”. This judicial distinction between terror and crime matters – and is devastating for the government. Ministers, the bench reasoned, can’t ban every organisation that meets the legal terror threshold just because it brings “significant disruptive benefits” to do so.