00:00Pro-Palestine protests against Israeli actions in Gaza have become a common sight on the streets of central London.
00:10But if the Home Secretary gets her way, this demonstration today could be the last legal gathering of the protest group Palestine Action.
00:19Yvette Cooper has decided to proscribe the organisation and will lay an order before Parliament next week.
00:26If passed, it would see membership of and support for the group banned under UK terror laws, putting it on a par with Hamas, Al-Qaeda, National Action and the Wagner Group.
00:38The move comes after Palestine Action vandalised two planes inside RAF Brice Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday, to the cost of millions of pounds.
00:48Their behaviours in the last few weeks, and particularly in the last few days, are totally unacceptable.
00:54To cause damage to military assets, but also to cause such damage to privately owned assets is unacceptable, whatever your views are about what's happening in the Middle East.
01:06Palestine Action's planned protest in Trafalgar Square today prompted this statement from Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on Saturday.
01:14I'm sure many people will be as shocked and frustrated as I am to see a protest taking place tomorrow in support of Palestine Action.
01:22This is an organised extremist criminal group whose prescription as terrorists is being actively considered.
01:28Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer,
01:35and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft.
01:44Protesters have clashed with police at today's demonstration, with several people arrested.
01:49However, the organisers of today's demonstration say that protests like these aren't enough to bring about change.
01:57For the last 20 months we've seen unspeakable crimes unfolding,
02:01and boycotts and marches haven't been enough to stop it.
02:05But direct action works, and whether Palestine action is prescribed or not,
02:11people will continue to take direct action to stop this genocide,
02:15especially when the government fails to live up to its responsibilities.
02:20Palestine action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months,
02:24including vandalising US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire in March.
02:30The human rights organisation Liberty has raised concerns over the government's decision to prescribe the group.
02:36It's a significant shift in how the government responds to direct action,
02:41and we believe that it's actually the first time that counter-terror measures have been used in this way
02:47against groups who are committing criminal damage to property rather than harming individuals.
02:53We believe that the proportionality test has not been met in this decision.
02:58People will have differing opinions on whether Palestine action's conduct constitutes terrorism or simply a public nuisance,
03:06similar to the actions of Just Stop Oil.
03:08MPs will get to decide next week.
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