Breaking: fears of stitch-up as judges say Mahmood can appeal Palestine Action unbanning

On 13 February, three High Court judges humiliated the Starmer government by declaring the regime’s terrorist ban on anti-genocide group Palestine Action unlawful.

However, the judges allowed the Home Office time to prepare arguments for an appeal against the finding — and the very narrow grounds on which the judges declared the ban unlawful made legal experts fearful that the judgment was constructed to be overturned on appeal.

All three judges — who were imposed by the authorities to replace the judge who granted Palestine Action founder Huda Ammori a judicial review — have close links to Israel, which is committing genocide in Gaza. These links made the decision to declare the ban unlawful all the more striking. But now those same judges have given home secretary Shabana Mahmood permission to take the case to the Appeals Court.

As the Palestine Action ban is still in force until the case concludes, it remains a criminal offence to support or be a member of the group, with heavy prison sentences attached.