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.
MPs have voted to ban activist group Palestine Action, after members broke into a UK military base in Oxfordshire last month and damaged planes.
The group’s direct action was in protest against the UK Government’s support for Israel and activists targeted RAF Brize Norton, where planes set off to a base in Cyprus which has reportedly assisted the Israeli military in surveillance over Gaza.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said after the incident that Palestine Action would be ‘proscribed’, which means it would be added to a list of organisations that are banned in the UK.
Ferret Fact Service explains.
The UK Government has the ability to ‘proscribe’ organisations under the 2000 Terrorism Act. This means it is illegal to be a member, state publicly that you are a member, and support the organisation in public in a way that might invite other people to support it. This could mean expressing support in speeches, publishing images or by wearing clothing in support of the group.
It’s also illegal to arrange events that support the organisation or are being addressed by a member.
Last Wednesday, MPs at Westminster voted for Palestine Action to be added to this list. The ban came into force on Saturday after a legal challenge from the group failed.
More than 80 groups are currently proscribed in the UK under the Terrorism Act, while 14 linked to paramilitary activities in Northern Ireland are banned under previous legislation.
Most of the organisations currently proscribed are linked to Islamist or far right violence. In 2016, far right group Scottish Dawn was proscribed after an investigation by The Ferret.
The maximum sentence for belonging to or showing support for a proscribed organisation is 14 years in prison.
Police arrested 29 people at a protest in opposition to Palestine Action’s proscription, which took place on Saturday after the ban came into force.
The Metropolitan Police said the protesters had been held on suspicion of committing offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.
This is controversial, as terrorism is defined differently across the world and hotly-debated by academic experts. There is no international consensus about its exact meaning. This means organisations and actions may be defined as terroristic by some countries and not others.
According to the Terrorism Act 2000, which underpins the proscription of groups in the UK, terrorism is the use or threat of action which:
To be defined as terrorism, these actions must be designed to influence government or an international governmental institution or to intimidate the public, and be done to advance a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
Effectively yes. Cooper, in her speech to parliament ahead of the debate, said the group’s “activities meet the threshold set out in the statutory tests established under the Terrorism Act 2000”.
According to the UK Government, the home secretary can proscribe a group under the legislation “if they believe it is concerned in terrorism”.
Guidance states a proscribed group “commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for terrorism, promotes or encourages terrorism (including the unlawful glorification of terrorism), or is otherwise concerned in terrorism”.
Yes. An organisation can apply to be taken off the list, which will then be decided on by the home secretary.
So far, four organisations have been de-proscribed: Peoples’ Mujaheddin of Iran, International Sikh Youth Federation, Hezb-e Islami, and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
Organisations can also appeal if the Home Office decides to reject a request for de-proscription. An independent appeals commission will then decide on the case.
Palestine Action appears to be the first organisation MPs have voted to proscribe under the Terrorism Act 2000. Its activities have been restricted to attacks on property.
In her statement to the House of Commons, Cooper said Palestine Action’s members were “demonstrating a willingness to use violence”, and cited the damage caused at RAF Brize Norton, and a separate protest at Thales defence factory in Glasgow.
In 2024, Lord Walney, the UK Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, described the group as a “far left, anarchist, anti-Israel activist group” and recommended that proscription be kept under review.
He said he did not believe the group met the threshold to be proscribed at the time. This advice predated the damage at Brize Norton.
Climate activism group Extinction Rebellion appeared on a list put together by police as an example of an allegedly extremist ideology that should be reported to the authorities running the anti-radicalism Prevent programme, but it has not been proscribed.
Since the ban, a new organisation called ‘Yvette Cooper’ has emerged, posting similar direct action protests to Palestine Action. In a video, the group said: “If you want to ban Palestine Action, you’ll have to proscribe Yvette Cooper too”.
Amnesty International described the ban as “an unprecedented legal overreach”. It questioned the UK’s definition of terrorism as “deeply flawed and overly broad”.
A selection of human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) also questioned the move. In a statement, they criticised the “unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’”.
“According to international standards, acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism,” the statement continued.
The home secretary told MPs that Palestine Action’s proscription had been “assessed through a robust, evidence-based process, by a wide range of experts from across government, the police and the security services”.
Main image: Merch HÜSEY/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.
