Palestine Action protest arrests ‘not sustainable’, Stella Creasy tells Commons

Arresting protesters for expressing support for Palestine Action is unsustainable, a Labour MP has said, as she told the Commons continued arrests risk undermining the meaning of terrorism.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy said arrests of people who have held placards supporting the group, or action in Palestine, was beginning to be untenable.

Another 890 demonstrators were arrested in central London on Saturday, bringing the total arrested in similar protests to nearly 1,500 since the group was proscribed.

In response, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said members of the group, which was banned in July, had been charged with violent disorder, grievous bodily harm with intent, actual bodily harm, and criminal damage.

Weapons had been used in its attacks, he told MPs, as he said Palestine Action had met the threshold for proscription.

He said supporting a proscribed organisation would never be acceptable, regardless of circumstances.

Ms Creasy said: “The case for acting on the group itself, was and is strong. We’ve seen a pattern of violence at their events, and they have not disassociated themselves from that violence.”

She also said people who had attended anti-immigrant protests had seen police and refugees targeted, without similar bans.

She continued: “This is just not sustainable for our police and our criminal justice system.

“There is a difference between people protesting using violence, and people protesting the use of proscription.

“If we don’t get right the response, if we continue to arrest those in the second category, the seriousness of the term terrorism risks losing its meaning, becoming diluted rather than strengthened.

“Proscription was supposed to be about stopping those inciting direct harm and violence.

“Going after somebody with a poster, testing the boundaries of liberty, many of whom are clear they don’t support Palestine Action, but feel strongly about Palestinian rights and free speech, confuses rather than clarifies the Government’s intentions.”

Ms Creasy asked for the Government to set out guidance on public interest tests for the Crown Prosecution Service and police.

MPs voted to ban the group in July in the aftermath of protesters breaking into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and vandalising two Voyager aircraft.

Police said £7 million of damage had been caused.

Five people have been charged in connection with the incident in June.

Protests have since taken place with activists arrested for holding placards which have shown support for Palestine Action. Some activists believe the ban on the group chills the showing of support for the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

The arrests on Saturday in Parliament Square saw 857 people held for showing support of a proscribed group.

Some 33 were arrested for assaulting police officers and other public order offences.

A separate Palestine Coalition march was attended by 20,000 people.

Mr Jarvis said: “Anyone who wishes to demonstrate about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, or the actions of any government, including our own, has the absolute freedom to gather with others and voice their views, provided that they do so within the law.

“But supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation are not the same thing.”

He said advice given to the Home Office said the group had met tests to be banned under the Terrorism Act 2000.

He continued: “These are not the actions of a legitimate protest group. And for a government to ignore expert security assessments, advice and recommendations, would be highly irresponsible.

“Were there to be further serious attacks or injuries, there would rightly be questions asked about why action had not been taken.”

He added: “Supporting or being a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation is a criminal offence and will never be acceptable, regardless of the wider context.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Conservatives “fully support, unequivocally, the right to peaceful protest”, but that violence is “never acceptable”.

He said: “No matter how strongly people feel about an issue, and whatever the rights and wrongs of that issue, using violence to advance the political agenda is never acceptable.”

Responding, Mr Jarvis said: “I completely agree with him that violence is never acceptable in terms of pursuing a political agenda, and I’m very pleased that we’re able to establish a consensus across this House.”

Markus Campbell-Savours, Labour MP for Penrith and Solway, asked why arrests were not stopped – as he said he believed that the convictions for displaying proscribed group’s names were “extremely rare”.

Mr Jarvis said decisions were down to police judgments made under pressure.