Today in Westminster, over 500 people plan to announce themselves as terrorists, all in full view of the police. Their methods are less molotovs-at-dawn and more Year 8 art project. All the protesters need to do is display a placard emblazoned with the words “I support Palestine Action”. This immediately invites arrest for an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000, with Section 13 outlawing the “wearing or displaying an article indicating support for a proscribed group”.
After passing legislation, you then have to apply it. This duty typically falls to beleaguered police services, who are blamed for laws conjured by their thoughtless political masters. Yet, if the issue at hand is Palestine Action’s proscription, after activists vandalised a pair of aircraft at RAF Brize Norton, the Terrorism Act 2000 is about so much more than the politics of Gaza. It speaks, rather, to 25 years of government failure, and how over-powered laws and under-powered cops collide to push Britain towards all-out chaos.
From a personal perspective, I’m sympathetic to banning Palestine Action. Whichever way you split it, breaking into an RAF base and deliberately disabling military aircraft isn’t just criminal damage, it’s a shameless assault on the armed forces. And besides, June’s attack came before the group’s campaign of industrial sabotage on companies it linked to Israeli interests. Reports suggest the total costs here could hit £55 million.
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