Overview

• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper used the Terrorism Act 2000 to ban Palestine Action, making membership or support punishable by up to 14 years in prison and even displaying its name liable to six months behind bars
• Metropolitan Police detained 29 people in London on July 5–6—including 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt—and all have since been released on conditional bail
• Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley defended the arrests of elderly demonstrators, asserting that the law applies equally regardless of age when it involves a proscribed group
• Observers say classifying nonviolent direct action as terrorism risks a chilling effect on free speech and peaceful assembly under broad anti-terror powers
• Figures such as Lord Walney are calling for amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to address disruptive protests without resorting to terrorism legislation