Palestine Action is a ‘violent organisation’ that has committed ‘significant injury’, says No 10
Palestine Action is a “violent organisation” that has committed “significant injury,” Downing Street said.
Asked about people arrested as part of protests linked to the group, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said:
We’ve said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage, and as I say, it has met the tests as set out under the Terrorism Act to be proscribed.
Share
Updated at 09.48 EDT
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Closing summary
Downing Street defended the controversial proscription of Palestine Action, labelling the protest group as “violent”, with the justice minister saying supporters of the “terrorist organisation” will be subjected to the “full force of the law”. No 10 said Palestine Action has committed “significant injury” as well as criminal damage after more than 500 arrests were made at a protest linked to the group in London over the weekend.
Kemi Badenoch appeared to suggest the setting up of “camps” when speaking about possible alternatives to using hotels to house asylum seekers while out in Essex on a media event.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, reaffirmed her commitment to try to reduce the number of children missing classes at schools, and pledged to make a priority of tackling British white working-class young people falling behind their peers in the year ahead.
The prison population of England and Wales has jumped to the highest number in nearly a year and is nearing record levels, despite the early release of tens of thousands of offenders, official figures showed.
Foreign criminals from 15 more countries, including India, Bulgaria and Australia, face deportation before they have a chance to appeal against the decision to remove them, in a widening of the government’s “deport first, appeal later” scheme.
Thanks for joining us. We are closing this blog now. You can find all our latest coverage of UK politics here.
Share
We have some more details on Downing Street’s views about Palestine Action, courtesy of the PA news agency (see post at 13.40 for more comments from No 10).
Asked on Monday whether the government was reconsidering its decision to designate the group as a terrorist organisation after the 500+ arrests on Saturday, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said:
No. Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed involving violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage.
Downing Street said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – an independent authority based within MI5 – had found the organisation had carried out three separate acts of terrorism.
The government is unable to provide “all of the detail at this stage” but the proscription has been made through a “robust, evidence-based process”, it said.
The Met last week confirmed the first three charges in England and Wales for offences against section 13 of the Terrorism Act relating to Palestine Action.
Critics say the proscription of the protest group stomps on the public’s right to freedom of speech and to protest, as well as aims to stifle legitimate demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza that the UK government has been accused of being complicit in.
Share
In an earlier post we mentioned how the Home Office announced it had added 15 new countries to its “deport now, appeal later” scheme, meaning convicted foreign criminals from 23 countries will be deported before their human rights appeals have been heard.
Kemi Badenoch was asked about this while speaking to journalists in Essex this afternoon. Sky News quoted her as having said:
I think it’s very interesting that … when we were deporting criminals, Sir Keir Starmer was writing letters trying to stop our deportations. I’ll believe it when I see it.
This is the sort of stuff that they should have been doing on day one. The fact that they tried to stop deportations before means that I don’t really believe it.
The government has released 26,000 prisoners since it came to power, released them early, there are now more criminals on our streets. That’s what I’m really worried about.
Share
Updated at 10.01 EDT
Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel accused ministers of trying to “cover up” the cost of ceding the Chagos Islands – officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory – to Mauritius, accusing them of using an “accountancy trick” to price the deal at £3.4bn, instead of the £34.7bn figure produced by the government actuary’s department, as revealed in the Telegraph’s report.
The cost was lowered by civil servants using inflation estimates over 99 years, then reportedly lowered again by between 2.5 and 3.5% per year under the Treasury’s social time preference rate accountancy method used for long-term projects.
“We’ve all known it’s a terrible deal with huge costs to hard-pressed British taxpayers,” Patel wrote in the Telegraph.
“But for months, ministers in public and parliament have sought to cover up the true amounts.”
Priti Patel (right) and Kemi Badenoch (L) arriving for a press conference in Westminster in May 2025. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Patel said that “instead of owning up to the costs, Labour has used an accountancy trick to claim the amount was only £3.4bn – still a vast waste of money”.
Labour has said previously that the Conservative government wasted £700m of taxpayers’ money on the failed Rwanda deportation scheme, which survived the tenure of three former prime ministers and was overseen by four former home secretaries, including Patel.
Share
Updated at 09.47 EDT
The Telegraph reported that the government’s Chagos Islands deal will cost ten times more than Keir Starmer previously claimed. A freedom of information request response revealed that the cost of giving away the islands to Mauritius is estimated at £34.7bn, much higher than the £3.4bn figure the prime minister has previously cited in public, according to the report.
A No 10 spokesperson, however, said today that the deal will cost “an average of £100m a year”, adding that this will total less than £3bn.
The spokesperson told journalists that this “compares favourably with other base agreements” and equates to “less than 0.2%” of the defence budget.
Under the agreement, Britain cedes control over the islands to Mauritius but leases the largest one, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there.
Downing Street said the deal was a “legal necessity” and backed by the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which are part of an intelligence-sharing partnership with the UK.
The UK will pay to maintain a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago. Photograph: APShare
Updated at 09.43 EDT
Badenoch suggests setting up ‘camps’ could be an alternative to asylum seeker hotels
Kemi Badenoch appeared to suggest the setting up of “camps” when speaking about possible alternatives to using hotels to house asylum seekers.
As she met members of the community in Epping, Essex, the Conservative party leader said: “We’ve got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025.
“Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.”
Badenoch said: “Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?
“As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don’t have all the answers; it’s important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.”
Kemi Badenoch doing media interviews while on a walkabout in Epping, Essex. Photograph: Lucy North/PAShare
Updated at 09.48 EDT
Vladimir Putin should never be trusted “as far as you could throw him,” Downing Street said.
Asked whether Keir Starmer thought the Russian leader could be trusted in peace talks over the future of Ukraine, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Never trust president Putin as far as you could throw him, but we obviously will support Ukraine.
“We will obviously support president Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations.
“But it is exactly why we’ve been leading this work on the coalition of the willing, because any ceasefire, as I say, cannot just be an opportunity for president Putin to go away, re-arm, restrengthen, and then go again.
“So we’re not going to leave it to trust. We’re going to ensure that we’re prepared such that we achieve a ceasefire.
Share
Palestine Action is a ‘violent organisation’ that has committed ‘significant injury’, says No 10
Palestine Action is a “violent organisation” that has committed “significant injury,” Downing Street said.
Asked about people arrested as part of protests linked to the group, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said:
We’ve said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage, and as I say, it has met the tests as set out under the Terrorism Act to be proscribed.
Share
Updated at 09.48 EDT
Starmer ‘gravely concerned’ about targeting of journalists in Gaza
Prime minister Keir Starmer is “gravely concerned” about the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza, his spokesperson said on Monday, after five reporters were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Israel’s military said it targeted and killed prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif, alleging he had headed a Hamas militant cell and was involved in rocket attacks on Israel.
Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, rejected the assertion, and before his death, Al Sharif had also rejected such claims by Israel.
“We are gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza,” Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters.
“Reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law, and journalists must be able to report independently, without fear, and Israel must ensure journalists can carry out their work safely.”
Asked about the claim that one of the journalists was linked to Hamas, Starmer’s spokesperson said: “That should be investigated thoroughly and independently, but we are gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists”.
Share
Donald Trump “clearly does respect women” but the US president can sometimes appear as a “bit of a chauvinist”, Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin has said.
Asked about whether Reform UK had found itself “aligning” with Trump, Pochin told the PA news agency: “This party is not aligned with Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump does what he does over the pond, and we do what we do.
“And when Nigel [Farage] becomes the prime minister in 2029, then you will see a Reform government which is committed to the safety and the protection of women and girls in this country.
“And the other thing I would say is, Donald Trump certainly comes across at times, when I look at him through the television or the media, as possibly a bit of a chauvinist, or whatever.
“But look at his team. I mean, his press secretary [Karoline Leavitt] is awesome – can’t remember her name – but he has a lot of very senior women in his team.
“So actually, he clearly does respect women and promotes women in his team, as Nigel is very much doing, as you’ve seen today, with four senior women hosting this press conference.”
Sarah Pochin, MP for Runcorn, speaks during a Reform UK press conference at Millbank Tower in central London. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAShare
Updated at 09.48 EDT
