Court of Appeal upholds Palestine Action terror ban, overturning High Court ruling; 117 arrested outside Royal Courts of Justice
Unbiased summary
On Monday 15 June, a five-judge Court of Appeal panel led by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr ruled that the government's proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000 was lawful and proportionate, overturning a February High Court ruling that had found the ban unlawful. The ban, introduced by then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on 5 July 2024, makes membership of or support for Palestine Action punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The court described the group as overtly promoting unlawful violence amounting to terrorism, citing serious property damage and risks of injury to the public. Following the ruling, Metropolitan Police arrested 117 people outside the Royal Courts of Justice on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organisation. Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. Since proscription, over 3,000 people have been arrested, with more than 700 charged.
Coverage by outlet
Morning Star
left
Angle
The outlet frames the ruling as evidence of authoritarian judicial overreach that criminalises legitimate political protest and ignores Israeli war crimes.
Bias
The Morning Star presents the court's legal reasoning almost entirely negatively, selectively quoting passages to portray judges as acting in bad faith rather than applying statute. It editorialises heavily — calling the ban 'absurd' and describing Elbit's business as implicitly unlawful despite ongoing ICJ/ICC proceedings not having produced binding findings — without acknowledging the court's detailed proportionality analysis. It omits factual detail about Palestine Action's documented property damage, including the Thales attack, and the RAF Brize Norton incident that triggered proscription, making the ruling appear groundless rather than legally reasoned.
The Guardian
left
Angle
The outlet centres the human impact on ordinary protesters — particularly elderly individuals — framing the ruling as a threat to civil liberties and democratic norms.
Bias
The Guardian leads with emotional personal testimony from elderly, sympathetically presented defendants, which, while newsworthy, is foregrounded to generate reader sympathy before legal facts are established. It accurately reports the scale of arrests and the appeal timeline but gives disproportionate space to protesters' characterisations of the state as 'authoritarian' without equivalent weight to the court's stated reasoning. The outlet omits substantive details of why the court ruled as it did — such as the RAF Brize Norton break-in or the Underground Manual — which would provide balance to the civil liberties framing.
The Independent
centre-left
Angle
The outlet provides factual, event-driven reporting on both the legal ruling and the arrests, with moderate framing that leans slightly toward humanising protesters.
Bias
The Independent's coverage is largely factual and includes both the court's language and details of arrests, representing the most balanced of the outlets reviewed. However, it notably highlights the presence of a 'retired doctor' among those arrested and an elderly woman, subtly humanising the protest without equivalent focus on the court's specific findings regarding Palestine Action's violent conduct. Its background explainer article is relatively even-handed, citing the group's property damage record and the Underground Manual, though it still frames the Home Office win as a 'significant legal victory' in a way that implies surprise rather than neutrality.
Daily Mail
right
Angle
The outlet frames the ruling as a clear-cut government victory against a dangerous proscribed group, with implicit endorsement of the ban and the arrests.
Bias
The Daily Mail's coverage is factually accurate in its core reporting of arrest numbers, police statements, and the court's finding, but its framing consistently positions the ruling as a straightforward triumph. It prominently quotes the court's most damning language about Palestine Action — 'overtly promotes unlawful violence amounting to terrorism' — without engaging with the civil liberties concerns raised in the earlier High Court ruling or by defendants. It omits any reference to the 82-year-old former magistrate, the Supreme Court appeal plan, or broader context about the scope of who has been arrested, presenting an almost entirely law-enforcement-approving narrative.
GB News
right
Angle
The outlet reports the story primarily as a law enforcement action, emphasising police swift response and protesters' confrontational behaviour.
Bias
GB News focuses heavily on the speed of police action — 'just hours after' the ruling — and specifically quotes protesters shouting 'shame' and 'you're complicit' at officers, framing demonstrators as hostile rather than as citizens exercising (albeit now-criminalised) expression. This characterisation is not factually inaccurate but is selectively emphasised to cast protesters in an unflattering light. The outlet provides no context about who was arrested, the Supreme Court appeal, or the civil liberties implications debated in the lower courts, making its coverage the thinnest on legal substance and most focused on the enforcement spectacle.