Met Police to Charge Over 60 Supporters of Banned Palestine Action

London’s Metropolitan Police said it is moving to prosecute more than 60 people for offences linked to displaying support for the recently outlawed activist group Palestine Action, adding to three cases already before the courts. The organisation was declared a terrorist group on 7 July after it claimed responsibility for a break-in at a Royal Air Force base that caused an estimated £7 million in damage to two aircraft. The force reported more than 700 arrests since the ban, including 522 detentions at a protest last weekend—believed to be the largest single-day protest arrest total in the capital’s history. Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson warned that “many more can be expected in the next few weeks,” while Commissioner Mark Rowley praised police and prosecutors for acting “speedily” to counter what he called attempts to overwhelm the justice system. Interior Minister Yvette Cooper defended the Labour government’s decision to proscribe the group, saying national security and public safety “must always be our top priority.” Human-rights advocates such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the United Nations have criticised the measure as a threat to free expression, contending that the mass arrests and prosecutions amount to legal overreach.