YVETTE Cooper has insisted she followed the correct process in seeking to ban Palestine Action as a terror group when she was home secretary.
The now-Foreign Secretary was asked on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips about her decision-making after the High Court ruled on Friday that the proscription of the group was unlawful and “disproportionate”.
Palestine Action remains banned despite the group winning the case in order to allow the UK Government to appeal.
READ MORE: The civil war within Labour is directly harming Scots, warns Stephen Flynn
The ban resulted in one of the largest campaigns of civil disobedience in the UK in recent years and the biggest prison hunger strike since the Irish republican hunger strike of 1981.
The protest group Defend Our Juries said more than 2700 people have been arrested for holding up signs supporting Palestine Action since the UK Government’s ban came into effect.
Cooper told Sky News: “Well, I followed the clear advice and recommendations, going through a serious process that the Home Office goes through, involving different agencies and police advice as well, which was very clear about the recommendation for proscription of this group.
“And the court has also concluded that this is not a normal protest group, that it has found that this group has committed acts of terrorism, that this group is not simply in line with democratic values, and has promoted violence.”
Cooper was pressed to reveal the advice she was given that informed her decision to pursue the ban, but did not, instead saying: “So I was given significant evidence and advice around risks of violence and risks from public safety, and that is what you take seriously.”
The Foreign Secretary added: “If you ignore advice that you are given about risks to public safety then you’re really not taking seriously the responsibilities of home secretary.”
