Proscription order laid to ban three groups

The Home Secretary has announced plans to ban three groups deemed dangerous and terrorist.

A draft proscription order has been laid in parliament which will proscribe Palestine Action (PA), the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM).  

The order will make it a criminal offence to be a member of one of these groups or to invite or recklessly express support for them.

If passed, the offence will be punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The House of Commons has voted in favour of the motion, with the House of Lords due to vote on Thursday.

According to a government statement: "Proscription is ideologically neutral. By deciding to proscribe these three organisations, the government is demonstrating its zero tolerance approach to terrorism, regardless of its form or underlying ideology."

Palestine Action is known for breaking into RAF Brize Norton and spraying paint on aeroplanes that the group deemed were used to refuel Israeli military aircrafts and fighter jets. A separate protest at Thales in Glasgow in 2022 is alleged to have caused £1 million worth of damage to submarine parts. According to the government: "Such acts do not represent legitimate acts of protest and the level of seriousness of Palestine Action’s activity has met the test for proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000."

The government has said that if the proscription order passes, the right to peaceful protest will remain protected, as will the ability to defend the rights of the Palestinian people and to oppose actions of the Israeli government.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "National security is the first duty of any government, we will always take the action needed to protect our democracy and national security against different threats. 

"Maniacs Murder Cult, Palestine Action and the Russian Imperial Movement have each passed the threshold for proscription based on clear national security evidence and assessments. 

"The right to protest and the right to free speech are the cornerstone of our democracy and there are countless campaign groups that freely exercise those rights. Violence and serious criminal damage has no place in legitimate protests."

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said: "Amnesty International condemns the Government's decision to ban Palestine Action under anti-terror laws, as an unprecedented legal overreach. 

“The UK has a deeply flawed and overly broad definition of terrorism which human rights monitors including Amnesty International have been warning about for years. This latest disturbing move only serves to highlight that those warnings were justified.  

“Whatever MPs may think about whether Palestine Action’s tactics are appropriate or not, existing criminal laws, accompanied by human rights protections, were more than capable of responding to them. Instead of taking draconian measures to shut down direct action protesters and criminalise anyone who expresses support for their actions, the Government should be taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide and end any risk of UK complicity in it.” 

MMC is a white-supremacist, neo-Nazi organisation, which encourages individuals to engage in acts of violence against those it perceives as anti-social. Members and leaders of the group have claimed a number of violent attacks around the world. The group also supplies an instruction manual, which would enable a potential attacker to increase their capability or motivation to conduct a terrorist attack posing a threat to the UK.

RIM is a white supremacist, ethno-nationalist organisation with the aim of creating a new Russian Imperial State. Its paramilitary unit, the Russian Imperial Legion, has fought in the invasion of Ukraine. The group manages a paramilitary training programme called Partizan, which increases the capability of attendees to conduct terrorist attacks. In 2016, two Swedish nationals attended Partizan before committing a series of bombings in Gothemburg, Sweden.