Police Wasted £10m Enforcing Unlawful Palestine Action Ban

Police have spent well over £10m enforcing the Palestine Action ban, which last week was ruled unlawful by the high court. 

That figure includes £8.73m that the Met police spent making arrests during just four days of protests, the Observer reported. Many millions more will have been spent on investigation and case work costs, police sources told the newspaper. 

“This government has used taxpayers’ money in order to arrest, prosecute and attack their own citizens’ rights to free speech – to pursue an unlawful ban,” Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said. 

Enforcing the ban was not compulsory. Several police forces across the UK – including in Edinburgh, Devon and Cornwall – opted not to make arrests at protests where people held signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” 

Numerous rights organisations including Amnesty International warned authorities that criminalising speech in this way was not lawful. The anti-terror law under which the group was banned imposes a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for supporting a proscribed group. 

The ban on Palestine Action remains in place to allow for further legal arguments. Met police have confirmed they will stop making arrests but will continue to gather evidence for potential future prosecutions. 

The government has said it will appeal, which will mean yet more costs for the taxpayer. The home office reportedly spent £700k defending proscription during the judicial review. 

Police have arrested more than 2,700 people since the ban came into effect in July 2025, including pensioners, wheelchair users and the daughter of a holocaust survivor.   

Many police officers have said they were exhausted and demoralised after being ordered to make arrests. 

“I was told to help in the arrest of a disabled person for holding up the sign,” one told Novara Media last year. “My father was an officer… I know he would be ashamed and turning in his grave if he saw what I did.”