Wife of UK National Security Advisor Slams Palestine Action Ban

The wife of the government’s national security advisor has called for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted, days after police said they would take no action over a social media post she wrote that was seen by some as an expression of support for the group. 

Last week Sarah Helm, a journalist and author, wrote on X: “God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.” The post was a reference to the fact Irish novelist Sally Rooney can no longer sell her books in the UK due to her support for the group. 

On Monday, after the police’s announcement about her post, Helm wrote that she was “free… and found not guilty of posting a terrorist tweet, whereas others guilty of holding terrorist banners? So where do I sign the letter calling for such absurdity to halt and for Palestine Action to be unbanned under the Terrorism Act?”

Helm was referring to an open letter signed by over 400 literary figures in support of Rooney and calling for the ban to be lifted. 

The Metropolitan Police on Saturday said specialist officers had assessed Helm’s earlier X post and “determined that it did not meet the criminal threshold”.

Helm’s husband, Jonathan Powell, has served in his senior Cabinet Office role since 2024.

After its proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000 in July last year, expressing support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. 

Thousands, including many elderly and disabled people, have been arrested while holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

Following the Met’s decision to take no action against Helm, George Sheldon Grün, a Green councillor in Hackney, published a post on Instagram reading: “God help us councillors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.” 

Last year, retired head teacher Jon Farley was arrested in Leeds under the Terrorism Act for holding a printout of a cartoon from Private Eye that mocked the Palestine Action ban. He was held for six hours before being told no further action would be taken. 

“I couldn’t quite believe it was happening,” he told the BBC at the time. “They carried me to the van and all the way I’m saying, ‘It’s a cartoon from Private Eye. This is daft'”.

In July 2025, armed police in Kent threatened to arrest peaceful protester Laura Murton for holding a Palestine flag and having signs that read “Free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide”. 

Police told Murton that her protest expressed views supportive of Palestine Action, even though her signs did not mention the group. They made her give her name and address in order to avoid arrest. 

Earlier this year, campaigners said police arrested people who had not broken the law by showing or stating support for the group during a demonstration outside Westminster magistrates’ court.

“I clapped. That was it,” one woman, who said she had been arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, told Novara Media at the time, “I was here just to watch.”