The Metropolitan Police said on Friday, 16 October, that a post by Sarah Helm on Thursday, 15 October referencing Palestine Action is being assessed to decide whether further investigation is needed.
A government spokeswoman said the views were held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity, and Reform UK MP Danny Kruger has written to the prime minister about the post.
There were 3,867 arrests for suspected terrorist activity in the year to June, of which 3,630 (94%) were linked to supporting Palestine Action.
Sally Rooney said she would donate earnings to Palestine Action, and her publisher Faber has determined it cannot sell her novels in Britain.
Sarah Helm, a journalist and author married to Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, posted on X on Thursday, 15 October. Her message was a reply to a discussion about the novelist Sally Rooney and drew accusations that she backed Palestine Action, the group the government proscribed in July 2025. Helm has previously worked at the Sunday Times and as a foreign correspondent for the Independent. Her post read:
“God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.”
On Friday, 16 October, the Metropolitan Police said they were assessing the post to decide whether any further investigation was needed. Their statement opened with the following line.
“We have been made aware of an X post on Thursday, 15 October referencing Palestine Action.”
Downing Street distanced itself from the remarks, and a government spokeswoman said the views were held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity. Reform UK MP Danny Kruger has written to the prime minister about the post. The Campaign Against Antisemitism called the post gobsmacking and urged police to investigate Helm. It also argued that Powell, who leads on national security and has been involved in Middle East diplomacy, should publicly denounce the rhetoric if he wants to remain in post. Defend Our Juries, an activist group, said it knows of 36 people who were arrested and had their homes raided for expressing similar support on social media, and it hopes Helm will not face the same treatment.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski took the opposite view, calling for Palestine Action to be de-proscribed immediately and describing its terrorism label as ludicrous and authoritarian. He said:
“Sarah Helm is speaking absolute common sense and should be commended for her bravery.”
Helm was responding to a post defending Sally Rooney, the Irish author of Normal People. Rooney has said she would donate earnings from her books and BBC adaptations of novels to Palestine Action, and her publisher Faber has concluded it cannot sell her novels in Britain. Palestine Action calls itself a "direct action movement" that uses "disruptive tactics", and four of its activists were jailed in 2026 after causing £1.2m of damage at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm. The ban followed an action in which activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and sprayed red paint on two aircraft. Since the ban took effect on 5 July 2025, membership or support of the group has been an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Palestine Action contested its proscription, but the Court of Appeal upheld it in June. In September, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the government was looking at the ban and did not believe mass arrests were anyone's intent.
Coverage cites figures showing that terror arrests have continued to rise since the ban took effect. There were 3,867 arrests for suspected terrorist activity in the year to June, and 3,630, or 94%, were linked to supporting the group. Estimates of the wider number differ: the BBC cited an estimated 3,700 people arrested for publicly expressing support, while Amnesty International, cited by Al Jazeera, put the figure above 3,500. Police have made mass arrests at several demonstrations since the ban, typically of people holding placards or wearing T-shirts and badges backing the group, under anti-terrorism legislation.
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The Metropolitan Police are assessing an X post by Sarah Helm, wife of Jonathan Powell, after she was accused of backing the proscribed group. Downing Street has distanced itself from the remarks, which came as arrests linked to the group continue.
AI text based on reports by LBC, BBC, Al Jazeera Online and other publishers. Published .