Yvette Cooper defends Palestine Motion ban as 60 extra faces prices

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<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/062a/live/b614ae70-7aea-11f0-a6d0-432733abd1f3.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="EPA A close up of Yvette Cooper as she walks past some bushes. She is smiling slightly and wearing a blue jacket and white leaf-shaped earrings. Her hair is cropped short." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> EPA Yvette Cooper beforehand stated that some supporters of Palestine Motion "do not know the complete nature" of the group

The house secretary has once more defended the proscription of Palestine Motion as a terrorist group, saying it's greater than "a daily protest group recognized for infrequent stunts".

Writing within the Observer, Yvette Cooper stated the group had claimed accountability for incidents that noticed these allegedly concerned subsequently charged with a spread of crimes, together with violent dysfunction and aggravated housebreaking.

She added that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had assessed these prices have a "terrorism connection".

Her feedback come after the Metropolitan Police stated on Friday {that a} additional 60 individuals can be prosecuted for displaying help for Palestine Motion.

Greater than 700 individuals have been arrested because the group was banned by the federal government on 5 July - together with greater than 500 at an illustration in central London final week.

On Saturday, Norfolk Police arrested 13 people accused of supporting the group , after a protest in Norwich metropolis centre.

The Met added that extra prosecutions had been anticipated within the coming weeks and that preparations had been put in place "that can allow us to research and prosecute vital numbers every week if mandatory".

Palestine Motion has engaged in actions which have predominantly focused arms firms because the begin of the present warfare in Gaza.

Cooper moved to ban the group after activists from the group prompted an estimated £7m of injury to jets at RAF Brize Norton in June.

The house secretary stated whereas many had been conscious of that incident, fewer would concentrate on different incidents for which the group had claimed accountability.

Cooper additionally referenced a so-called "Underground Guide" from the group, which she stated "encourages the creation of cells, supplies sensible steering on find out how to determine targets to assault and find out how to evade legislation enforcement".

"These will not be the actions of a reliable protest group," Cooper stated.

She additionally reiterated a remark made to the BBC earlier this week that some individuals who had been supporting Palestine Motion out of concern for the humanitarian state of affairs in Gaza weren't conscious of the true nature of the group.

"No-one ought to permit determined requires peace within the Center East to be derailed right into a marketing campaign to help one slim group concerned in violence right here within the UK," Cooper stated.

The federal government's banning of Palestine Motion means membership of or help for the group turned a felony offence, carrying a sentence of as much as 14 years.

Final month, the group gained permission to problem the ban and its case can be heard within the Excessive Courtroom in November. It argues that the ban breaches the best to free speech and has acted as a gag on reliable protest.

Rights teams have additionally been important each of the proscribing of Palestine Motion as a terrorist group and of the next arrest of a whole lot of individuals.

Amnesty Worldwide's chief government, Sacha Deshmukh, earlier this week recommended the response to final weekend's protest was disproportionate.

"We now have lengthy criticised UK terrorism legislation for being excessively broad and vaguely worded and a menace to freedom of expression. These arrests display that our considerations had been justified," he stated.

The UK shouldn't be considered one of Israel's foremost suppliers of arms however does present some elements for the F-35 multi-role fighter jet that has been used extensively by Israel to strike Gaza.

The Royal Air Power (RAF) has additionally flown a whole lot of surveillance flights over Gaza since December 2023, reportedly utilizing Shadow R1 spy planes based mostly at an RAF base in Akrotiri in close by Cyprus.