A PROMINENT Scottish activist has branded the Court of Appeal’s ruling on Palestine Action a “tipping point towards an authoritarian British state”.
Sean Clerkin is one of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters who have been arrested under terrorism laws after the group was proscribed by the UK Government in a decision which had been ruled unlawful by the High Court in February.
However, the Court of Appeal on Monday sided with the Government and overturned the decision, saying that the proscription of Palestine Action as a terror group will stand.
Clerkin was arrested and charged under the Terrorism Act after he displayed a sign which read “Genocide in Palestine, Time to Take Action” – with the words “Palestine” and “Action” enhanced – at a demonstration in Glasgow city centre in July 2025.
He has now called the Court of Appeal’s ruling a “very sorry day for jurisprudence” and warned the UK is becoming a “Reform-type authoritarian state”.
“This is a very bad day for British democracy, a very bad day for democracy in Britain, and I think it's the tipping point towards an authoritarian British state,” Clerkin told The National.
“The bottom line is, today was a very sorry day for jurisprudence in the United Kingdom, and I think today further epitomises why people in Scotland should be going down the road towards independence.
“We have to break away from the United Kingdom because it's basically going to become a Reform-type authoritarian state dominated by people like [Nigel] Farage and their political agenda, which is completely contrary to what the people of Scotland want.”
The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Edis, Lord Justice Lewis, and Lady Justice Whipple handed down the Court of Appeal's ruling on the case on Monday morning.
The five judges ultimately ruled that the ban was a “justified and proportionate” interference on freedom of expression rights.
A key factor in the ruling, the judge said, was a “pattern of escalatory behaviour” which suggested that the group would pose a risk to lawful business activities moving forward.
Carr further said that comparisons to groups such as the Suffragettes were “seriously flawed” given the secrecy around Palestine Action's internal organisation.
Clerkin said the argument that there was a “pattern of escalatory behaviour” was “absolute nonsense” as he said the vast majority of pro-Palestine protesters are not a national security threat.
He said: “The bottom line is that nearly all the people that were active were in jail, there's 20-odd of them in jail, so that's just ridiculous to say it was a national security threat. They're not a national security threat.
“They're a non-violent direct action campaign and they're trying to stop genocide in Palestine and stop genocide in Gaza, and that's all they were doing.
“I just think it's the London judges coming down in favour of the British establishment.”
Clerkin added that it is “old-age pensioners” and people from groups like Quakers for Peace who are being arrested and detained under the Terrorism Act at demonstrations.
“I think it's absolutely ridiculous when the real threat to the British state is the far right, and they're the people who should be getting arrested,” he said.
“Those are the people who should be getting targeted by the police, not peaceful, nonviolent demonstrators like people in Palestine Action.”
The proscription came into effect on July 5, 2025, and made membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Amnesty International said that the banning of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was “a grave misuse of sweeping counter-terrorism powers with serious consequences for human rights, and today’s outcome does not alter that assessment”.
The Scottish Greens equalities spokesperson, Maggie Chapman MSP, called the appeal court ruling a “devastating blow to free speech and the right to protest”.
