Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
An arms lobby group urged the UK and Scottish Governments to crack down on Palestine Action more than a month before the group was proscribed, documents released to The Ferret reveal.
ADS Group, which describes itself as a “trade association advancing leadership in aerospace, defence, security and space”, said UK ministers should “consider proscription or prosecution for Terrorism Act offences” in a letter to Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance, dated May 2025.
The letter, obtained by The Ferret under freedom of information legislation, stated that the lobbying outfit had also “written to the UK policing minister, Dame Diana Johnson, regarding the need for a structured nationwide response” to Palestine Action and was “due to meet with her shortly to discuss this further”. The following month, Johnson’s boss at the Home Office, Yvette Cooper, announced that Palestine Action would be banned as a terrorist organisation.
The Home Office said that ADS had “nothing whatsoever to do with the decision” to proscribe Palestine Action on 1 July. “The suggestion that the decision was influenced by any private company is categorically false,” a spokesperson said.
However, the revelation of ADS Group’s lobbying comes after it emerged that former defence staff chief Lord Dannatt asked Home Office ministers to address the “threat” posed by Palestine Action on behalf of US arms multinational Teledyne, for which he works as a consultant.
Sam Perlo-Freedman, of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), accused the UK Government of “dancing to the arms industry’s tune” and said arms industry groups had direct access to the prime minister.
Palestine Action has singled out the Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems in its direct action protests – targeting the company’s UK factories as well as its contractors and associates.
This industry, whose products cause death and misery around the world, enjoys uniquely privileged access to the highest levels of government.
Sam Perlo-Freedman, Campaign Against the Arms Trade
ADS’s London headquarters has been repeatedly targeted by the group. In Scotland, protestors entered Thales UK’s site in Govan in 2022, setting off pyrotechnics, and caused damage at Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire this March.
In the letter to Constance, ADS Group chief executive Kevin Craven stated that while counter-terrorism powers “have not been devolved”, the firm was “keen to receive reassurances that Police Scotland and their English and Welsh colleagues are working together to deal with a UK-wide challenge”.
He called for both the UK and Scottish Governments to “carefully monitor the activities of direct action groups including Palestine Action and stand ready to commit greater resource to investigate and disrupt their activities”.
He also suggested the creation of a “dedicated national policing intelligence cell” to “share intel on direct action protest groups”, as well as “the creation of a national covert and proactive policing capability, which historically has been delivered via Special Branch”.
Craven complained that arms companies targeted by Palestine Action “have indicated there is a low and inconsistent level of awareness” among Police Scotland officers about powers given to them in the 2023 National Security Act. The law gives special protection to defence-related sites of the kind targeted by Palestine Action.
Perlo-Freedman of CAAT told The Ferret: “This industry, whose products cause death and misery around the world, enjoys uniquely privileged access to the highest levels of government.
“While top generals like Richard Dannatt take full advantage of the revolving door, top arms companies and ADS as the industry group have the PM on speed dial. This has always been deeply unhealthy for democracy, and has now led to the most serious attack on freedom of expression in decades.”
SNP MPs abstained on the proscription of Palestine Action when it was voted on at Westminster. Stating that the move was “profoundly undemocratic”, the party’s MP Brendan O’Hara said he and his colleagues had sat it out because the UK Government had bundled far-right groups Murder Maniac Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement into the same proscription motion in a “disgraceful, cynical, manipulation” of Parliament.
But when proscription was announced, officials advised John Swinney that if questioned, he should say it was a “reserved matter” for Westminster. According to a briefing seen by The Ferret, Swinney was advised he should speak out in support of free expression but add it must “be done in a democratic and respectful fashion”.
Some have criticised the decision to proscribe with Amnesty International claiming it represented “unprecedented legal overreach”. However last week The Telegraph quoted “insiders and experts” claiming the government is “likely to have an extensive dossier of troubling evidence” in relation to its decision.
On 30 July Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori was granted permission to challenge the ban. Last weekend more than 500 people were arrested at a demonstration in London for showing support for the group – believed to be the largest number of arrests under terrorism powers in British history.
ADS Group has been prolific in its lobbying of Scottish politicians. The lobbying register records 52 meetings and interactions with MSPs since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began in October 2023. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes held two meetings with ADS Group representatives in October and December last year.
Asked whether the issue of Palestine Action had been raised in any of these meetings, an ADS spokesperson said: “The significant impact of criminal damage against businesses in our sectors has been raised with politicians and authorities on behalf of our membership base.”
They claimed the letter to the Scottish justice minister sought to raise “pertinent issues” adding: “It is pivotal to our country’s security that peaceful protests are allowed, and even encouraged, but criminal damage, vandalism and danger to the life of workers is not something that we can support or sustain.
“Amongst wider societal protests, our sectors have continued to be targeted at a higher than average rate, with escalating levels of violence and criminal activity. Our asks of government in this area are the same across the breadth of the UK, and centre around the protection of freedoms while maintaining the safety of our employees.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is important that we live in a society where people have the right to protest, campaign and express their views in a democratic, respectful and lawful manner.
“The decision to proscribe an organisation is reserved to the UK Government. The operational policing of any proscription is a matter for Police Scotland.”
Main image: Abdul-Aziz Munj/Unsplash
Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Footage of farmed trout suffocating, haemorrhaging, and being beaten with batons in a slaughterhouse has prompted an official complaint to a government regulator.
