British police are assessing a social media post by Sarah Helm, the wife of National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, in which she appears to back Palestine Action. The group has been proscribed in the country as a “terrorist” organisation. Helm, a writer, published the message on X on Thursday.
Her post was a reply to a message defending Irish novelist Sally Rooney. Rooney said this week that her books would no longer be sold in the United Kingdom because she intends to put her royalties toward supporting Palestine Action. Helm wrote: “God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.”
Police and government respond to adviser’s wife’s post
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said on Friday that the post was being examined to decide whether a further investigation may be needed. A government spokesperson said the views in the post are held by an individual who does not speak for the government in any capacity.
Powell serves as the national security adviser to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Campaigners defend writer and cite wider arrests
Defend Our Juries, a UK-based activist group, defended Helm and criticised what it called an “absurdly authoritarian ban on Palestine Action”. A spokesperson said the group knew of 36 people who had been arrested and had their homes raided for similarly voicing support for the group on social media.
“We hope Sarah will not face the same treatment for standing up for free speech and Palestinian lives,” the spokesperson said.
Rights group Amnesty International said police have arrested more than 3,500 people in the UK for alleged support of the group since the ban took effect, many of them for holding up placards.
Legal challenge and the ban’s origins
The UK government outlawed Palestine Action in July 2025. The decision followed a raid by activists on a Royal Air Force base, where red paint was sprayed on two aircraft to protest UK military support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Being a member or supporter of the group is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action has challenged its proscription, but the Court of Appeal upheld the ban in June. Last month, the new Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, said the government was “looking at” the ban. He added that he did not believe the mass arrests resulting from it were “anyone’s intent”.
