Is the proscription of Palestine Action undermining government anti-terrorism programmes?

The Guardian reports on warnings by a member of the Home Office’s homeland security group that the anti-terrorism Prevent programme risks being overwhelmed because of the government’s ban on Palestine Action and could lead to people being wrongly criminalised.

The paper reports the official as saying that there is already confusion among counter-terrorism police, officials and in schools and hospitals as a result of the proscription of the direct action group, which makes being a member of, or showing support for it, a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act:

They expressed concern about people involved in Palestine advocacy but not supportive of Palestine Action being wrongly labelled as extremist and people who have expressed support for Palestine Action being referred to Prevent when they do not pose any threat.

The homeland security official, who works closely with Prevent, and requested anonymity as they are not allowed to speak to the press, said: “I’m concerned about a surge in referrals to the Prevent system that might have a link to Palestine advocacy in light of the fact that this very high profile group is now proscribed, and the confusion there might be on the frontline in schools and healthcare settings and all the other places that are expected to make Prevent referrals.

“I’ve heard senior counter-terrorism police people say that they are already seeing on the frontline concerns about this come up and I’m aware of testimonies from Prevent leads at local authorities where they are also concerned about the impact of this on their area and confusion about whether certain cases should be referred to Prevent or not.”

The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, and local authorities to report concerns about a person being vulnerable to radicalisation.

Figures published earlier this month showed the number of referrals to the anti-terrorism programme were up by 27% in the year to March 2025 compared with the previous 12 months and was the highest since records began.

The homeland security group official said that while it was early days in the proscription of Palestine Action (the ban took effect on 5 July) they feared Prevent could be “overwhelmed” when it was already under “unprecedented” pressure after the Southport attacks and the concerns they raised about people who are obsessed with violence but without a clear terrorist ideology.

“We have already seen police officers, let alone frontline Prevent practitioners, mistakenly arrest or interfere with people for supporting Palestine, not supporting Palestine Action.

“There is a risk that what’s now the crime of support for Palestine Action might lead to the Prevent system becoming an unwitting sort of gateway for people to mistakenly be criminalised, especially young people who don’t know the law and they don’t know the consequences of expressing what might sound like – or may actually be – support for a group that, overnight, has become proscribed.”

In similar comments, in a pre-proscription debate in the House of Lords discussing the proposals to ban Palestine Action, the independent Prevent reviewer, David Anderson KC said it would mean “anyone who is young and foolish enough to say that its heart is in the right place, or that the government should listen to it, is committing a very serious offence for which they could be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned as a terrorist”.

The official who spoke to the Guardian said he worried that the ban had harmed the credibility of vital counter-terrorism work.

“The proscription has damaged trust in the government more widely and Prevent specifically – so potentially eroding Prevent’s effectiveness to tackle the real issues even further,” they said.

This is actually very serious. The last thing that those charged with identifying threats need is for the government to create confusion amongst the public, agencies and law officers that is going to hamper their work. 

Surely it is time for ministers to properly justify the proscription of Palestine Action and to clarify what exactly that involves or to rethink the decision to ban supporting the organisation altogether.