Political editor
The home secretary will move to proscribe the Palestine Action group in the coming weeks, effectively branding them as a terrorist organisation, the BBC understands.
Yvette Cooper is preparing a written statement to put before Parliament on Monday – which if passed will make becoming a member of the group illegal.
The decision comes as a security review begins at military bases across the UK, after pro-Palestinian activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two military planes with red paint.
A spokesperson for Palestine Action said: “When our government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action.”
In a separate post on X, it said the group represented “every individual” who is opposed to Israel’s military action in Gaza, adding: “If they want to ban us, they ban us all”.
Under UK law, the home secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000 if they believe it is “concerned with terrorism”.
To enact the move, new legislation will be needed, which must be debated and approved by both MPs and peers.
There are currently 81 groups proscribed as terrorist organisations in the UK under the Terrorism Act.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the move to ban the group was “absolutely the correct decision”.
“We must have zero tolerance for terrorism,” she wrote in a post on X.
But Amnesty International UK said it was “deeply concerned at the use of counter terrorism powers to target protest groups.”
“Terrorism powers should never have been used to aggravate criminal charges against Palestine Action activists and they certainly shouldn’t be used to ban them,” it added in a post on X.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer earlier condemned Friday’s incident as “disgraceful”.
The group’s actions sparked outrage among some MPs, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick calling for the group to be banned.
South East counter terrorism police earlier confirmed its specialist officers were investigating the incident alongside Thames Valley Police and the Ministry of Defence.
Counter-terrorism police added the incident happened in the early hours of Friday and that enquiries were “ongoing to establish the exact circumstances”.
Footage posted online by Palestine Action showed two people inside the Oxfordshire airbase in darkness, with one riding on a scooter up to an Airbus Voyager and spraying paint into its jet engine.
After sharing the footage, a spokesperson said: “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.”
Greg Bagwell – a former RAF deputy commander and now a distinguished fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) – told the BBC the aircraft targeted by the group “do not do what these protesters think they do. They’re largely used for moving passengers or fuel”.
He added that Voyagers had “the wrong connectors” that would stop them being used to help refuel Israeli or US jets, as the action group suggested.
But he said if the activists “wanted to create an effect, they’ve clearly done that”.
Since the start of the current war in Gaza, Palestine Action has engaged in activities that have predominantly targeted arms companies. In May, it claimed responsibility for the daubing of a US military plane in Ireland.
RAF Brize Norton serves as the hub for UK strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The air force has conducted reconnaissance flights over Gaza out of the Cyprus base.
