Why did the UK government ban Palestine Action?
JVL Introduction
Channel 4 TV showed a documentary exploring the banning of Palestine Action which we have consistently opposed. Using the draconian Terrorism Act 2000, the government (Labour) included damage to property as an example of terrorism. The documentary outlined the reasons behind the proscription from the government’s point of view and then showed that the foundation for the proscription was one of sand.
We might also note that the Lord Walney, who had advised the government on protests, had strong pro Israel views, wanted more restrictions on protest over Gaza and had chaired Labour Friends of Israel. Among some other questions raised here by Cook regarding the documentary, we might add what would the reaction have been if advice had been sought and acted on from someone who was the Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign or, indeed, Jewish Voice for Liberation? It does not take much imagination; now Lord Walney (previously John Woodcock) is entitled to his opinion but to expect objectivity or neutrality is unrealistic. It is yet another example of the government paving the way for the answers it wanted so that business with Israel, including arms trading could continue.
Please note there are short video extracts in the original article that we were unable to reproduce here. Do check them out.
LL
This article was originally published by Jonathan Cook (on Substack) on Tue 10 Feb 2026. Read the original here.
Ch4 doc shows Starmer's ban on Palestine Action was done to protect the arms industry
Palestine Action wasn’t banned because it’s a terrorist organisation. It was banned because large corporations, like the Elbit weapons firm, have captured the UK government
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This is balanced, factual and fair-minded commentary. We have a manipulative ‘Labour’ government which is persistently biased, untruthful and wrong.
A confusing plethora of real hatred from those claiming to be against hate.
Thank you for this. The original transmission of the programme was cancelled and I missed this later transmission. Happily it is on C4 catch-up, and no adverts. I was curious if there were any in the transmission?