No police action against wife of PM's adviser over Palestine Action post

Police have said no further action will be taken against Sarah Helm, author and wife of Andy Burnham's national security adviser, after she was accused of supporting the banned protest group Palestine Action.

Ms Helm, who is married to Jonathan Powell, posted on X on Thursday: "God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action."

Her comments were in response to criticism of Irish author Sally Rooney, who said she can no longer sell her books in the UK over her support of the proscribed protest group.

The ban, which began on 5 July last year, made membership of, or support for, the direct-action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

More: Where did Palestine Action come from?

In a statement on Friday, the Met Police said that the post was "in the process of being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required".

In an update on Saturday, the force said: "On Thursday 15 October, we were made aware of a post on X relating to Palestine Action.

"The post was assessed by specialist officers and it was determined that it did not meet the criminal threshold. No further police action will be taken."

It is understood there was insufficient evidence that the post was capable of encouraging support for a proscribed organisation.

Downing Street has distanced itself from Ms Helm's remarks.

Ms Helm is a former Sunday Times journalist and diplomatic editor at the Independent, who spent many years covering the Middle East.

She also wrote 2007's A Life In Secrets, about Vera Atkins, one of the UK's premier secret agents during the Second World War.

She is currently writing a book about Gaza, and has written a play called Loyalty - about the Iraq war and inspired by Mr Powell's decade as chief of staff for then-prime minister Tony Blair.

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The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) had called on the police to investigate Ms Helm, saying that while "spouses are entitled to independent views", the post "raises extremely serious questions for Jonathan Powell and the Government".

Defend Our Juries, a free speech group which supports the right for people to protest peacefully, made several posts on X thanking Ms Helm for her statement against the "absurdly authoritarian ban on Palestine Action".

The decision by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper has been controversial: the government made the decision to proscribe the group after two members vandalised two Voyager planes at RAF Brize Norton, causing an estimated £7m of damage.

Police have made mass arrests at multiple demonstrations since, where protesters have typically held up placards and worn T-shirts and badges declaring "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action", leading to their arrests under anti-terrorism legislation.

In February, the High Court ruled the group's ban was "disproportionate", but the Court of Appeal ruled that banning Palestine Action was lawful in June.

There were 3,867 arrests for suspected terrorist activity in the year to June, of which 94% were linked to supporting the group.

In the previous 12-month period, before the ban came into force, 234 terror arrests were made.

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