UK Supreme Court to review Palestine Action terror ban after 77 arrested at London protest

On Thursday, the UK Supreme Court confirmed that Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori can appeal the government's decision to proscribe the direct-action group as a terrorist organisation. The announcement came as 77 people were arrested outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London for voicing support for the banned group, the latest flashpoint in a year-long legal and protest campaign.

Legal path to the Supreme Court

The ban was imposed on 5 July 2025 by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper, weeks after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and damaged two military planes. It made membership of or support for Palestine Action a criminal offence carrying up to 14 years in prison. Ammori challenged the proscription, and in February 2026 the High Court ruled it unlawful, finding it a disproportionate interference with freedom of expression. That decision was overturned in June by the Court of Appeal, where five judges unanimously held the ban was lawful. Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr described the group as one that "overtly promotes unlawful violence amounting to terrorism" and said the proscription was "a justified and proportionate interference with individual rights".

“The ban was a justified and proportionate interference with individual rights.”

Now three Supreme Court justices have granted permission to appeal. The case will be expedited, with a hearing expected between October and December 2026.

Arrests at the magistrates' court

Hundreds gathered outside Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, where more than 2,000 cases related to supporting the group had been listed. Those cases were adjourned earlier in the week, but many defendants travelled from Yorkshire, Wales and Merseyside unaware of the change, complaining of chaos. The courts service now faces a compensation bill running to thousands of pounds. Protesters chanted "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action" as onlookers shouted "Shame!" The Metropolitan Police said 77 people were arrested, the majority for expressing support for a proscribed organisation; four were held for encouraging or assisting a criminal offence. All cases of people charged with breaching the ban have been put on hold until the Supreme Court rules, court officials said. No one has yet been convicted under the proscription.

The group and its tactics

Before it was outlawed, Palestine Action targeted Israeli-linked defence companies, particularly Elbit Systems, with blockades, red paint attacks and break-ins. The June 2025 incursion at RAF Brize Norton saw activists damage two aircraft. In a separate trial that concluded weeks ago, four members of a break-in team were jailed for causing more than £1 million of damage to a defence firm near Bristol; one was also sentenced for grievous bodily harm after striking a police officer with a sledgehammer. The government cited such violence when proscribing the group.

What comes next

Ammori welcomed the Supreme Court's decision and signalled she would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

“We will continue to fight this proscription all the way to the Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn what has become one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history.”

The outcome could reshape how terrorism legislation is applied to protest groups. For now, more than 3,000 people arrested for displaying support for Palestine Action remain in legal limbo, their cases frozen until the Supreme Court delivers its ruling.