Palestine Action terror ban does not diminish right to protest, says UK minister

People in the UK can protest for Palestinian rights without being a member or a supporter of a group banned as a terrorist organisation, a Home Office minister has said.

Lord Hanson of Flint made his comments as he was tackled by fellow Labour peer and former Cabinet minister Lord Hain, who argued the proscription of Palestine Action had led to the arrest of peaceful demonstrators, which he argued was “an unjust, perverse but entirely predictable consequence” of the ministerial decision made at the start of the month.

The Government crackdown, which came after the group claimed responsibility for vandalising two planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20, has been challenged in the High Court with a judgment due on July 30.

The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

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'Democratic right'

Responding to a question by Lord Hain at Westminster, Lord Hanson said: “This Government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to express their views, but they should do so within the bounds of the law.

“The proscription of Palestine Action does not diminish the right to lawfully protest or support Palestinian rights.

“The use of police powers and the management of protests are operational matters for the police, who are operationally independent from government.”

But Lord Hain, who was a leading anti-apartheid campaigner, said: “More than 200 have been arrested across the UK protesting entirely peacefully for Palestinian rights. One a retired woman priest aged 83. Another for holding up a Private Eye cartoon.

“Surely this is an unjust, perverse but entirely predictable consequence of the proscription of Palestine Action, or are the police getting it wrong, as was argued in the High Court on Monday?

“How on earth do the police distinguish between those supporting Palestine Action, now an offence, and those objecting to its proscription without necessarily supporting it?

“How we got to the point where peacefully holding up a placard about the carnage in Gaza is equated with terrorism by al Qaida on 9/11 or Islamic State on countless occasions.

“And shouldn’t the police be concentrating on stopping real terrorism and real crime, not targeting peaceful protesters?”

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'Peaceful protest'

Responding, Lord Hanson said: “Peaceful protest around the issue of Palestine is entirely legitimate, if people wish to make that protest.

“The proscription order ensured that there was action taken, because Palestine Action has perpetrated attacks in which it has forced entry onto premises armed with weapons, smashed up property, and members of the organisation have used serious violence against responding individuals, and that judgement has been given to us by the security services as part of the proscription order.”

Pointing out the matter was now being considered by the High Court, Lord Hanson added: “The police have to, in the meantime, enforce the prescription order, but they also have to ensure that peaceful protest is allowed and the decisions by the police are taken by the police, and they will be accountable for those decisions in due course.”

Lord Walney, the former independent adviser on political violence, said the group had been banned after a campaign of “criminal sabotage and violence against working people”.

The independent crossbencher added: “There is a deliberate and deceitful attempt to conflate the protests about what’s happening in Gaza with support for a proscribed group.

“It is a curious conception of peaceful protest where people are clearly expressing support for a proscribed organisation.”

Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Harper said: “When we debated this issue in the House, we made it very clear that there was a distinction between campaigning in favour of the rights of Palestinians, which is absolutely allowed, whatever your views about it, and supporting proscribed organisations.”

He added: “Can I say for those people that support proscribed terrorist organisations, they should meet the full force of the law and can the minister make sure they do so?”

'Terrorist activity'

Lord Hanson said: “We must not conflate terrorist activity with legitimate pro-Palestinian support. People are free to support the Palestinian rights and sovereignty, and there are means to do this without being a member of or a supporter of Palestine Action.”

Liberal Democrat Baroness Doocey said: “By handing overstretched and under-pressure police officers more power to decide in the heat of the moment whether a protest is in fact, an arrestable offence, we risk creating an environment where almost every protest could be regarded as criminalised.

“Does the minister accept that the recent ban, which has already led to many arrests, peaceful and even silent demonstrators being arrested, demonstrates how powers that are vague and too broad can be misapplied to unfairly target non-violent dissent?”

Lord Hanson said: “The prescription order itself is clear … and the police have a duty to enforce that proscription order.”