UK Moves to Ban Palestine Action After RAF Plane Sabotage

Two activists from the campaign group Palestine Action entered RAF Brize Norton in the early hours of 20 June and sprayed red paint inside the engines of two Airbus A330 Voyager tanker aircraft, also striking the planes with crowbars. The breach occurred at Britain’s largest Royal Air Force base, which handles air-to-air refuelling and strategic transport flights, and was immediately condemned by the Ministry of Defence as an act of vandalism and a serious security failure.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on 23 June said she will proscribe Palestine Action under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000, describing the Brize Norton sabotage as “the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage”. A draft order will be presented to Parliament on 30 June; once approved, it will become a criminal offence to belong to, financially support or publicly endorse the group, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison.

The move marks the first time a UK direct-action protest organisation would be placed on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Palestine Action, founded in 2020 to target firms it says enable Israeli military operations, called the decision “draconian” and has instructed lawyers to mount an urgent High Court challenge.

Counter Terrorism Policing South East continues to investigate the air-base attack. On 27 June officers arrested a 29-year-old woman and two men aged 36 and 24 on suspicion of preparing or instigating acts of terrorism, and detained a 41-year-old woman on suspicion of assisting an offender. All four remain in custody as detectives examine security footage and assess the damage to the Voyager fleet.