LONDON — On Saturday morning the Metropolitan Police said it was assessing whether a two-sentence post on X by the wife of Britain’s national security adviser warranted a criminal investigation. Later that day it decided it did not.
Sarah Helm, an author and former foreign correspondent married to Jonathan Powell, wrote on Thursday: “God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.” She was answering the journalist Adam Boulton’s criticism of Sally Rooney, whose publisher has pulled her books from UK supply after she pledged her royalties to the group. A Met spokesperson said specialist officers judged the post “did not meet the criminal threshold,” and Middle East Eye reported that no further action will follow.
The decision lands on a law with a long reach. Palestine Action has been proscribed since July 2025, and expressing support for it can carry up to 14 years in prison. Middle East Eye reports that thousands of people have been arrested for holding placards of support.
Reaction split along familiar lines. The Campaign Against Antisemitism wanted Helm to “face the full force of the law,” Middle East Eye reported. Downing Street’s line was that “These views are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity.” Green Party leader Zack Polanski told the outlet that Helm “should be commended for her bravery.”
Amnesty International said on May 26 that more than 3,300 arrests had been carried out since the ban took effect in early July 2025. Spread over roughly 325 days, that is about ten a day on TEH’s arithmetic, though the arrests came in waves, including mass arrests at Parliament Square. The count is almost five months old, and arrests have continued.
Marji Mansfield, 70, a retired tax adviser who says she was arrested for defying the ban, said counter-terrorism officers “have even come to my home over a few seconds of social media footage expressing support for Palestine Action,” as quoted by Middle East Eye.
The law is back in court. The Supreme Court’s listing for Huda Ammori’s challenge gives November 4 and 5, subject to change. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said last month the government was “looking at” whether the ban made political sense, Middle East Eye reported.
What the Met has not said is where its criminal threshold sits, or whether a placard-holder who wrote Helm’s first sentence would clear it.
