Palestine Action prisoners say conditions worsening after ban

People associated with Palestine Action in British prisons are facing worsening conditions and arbitrary punishments after the group's proscription as a terrorist organisation, their families and lawyers said.

The direct action group was banned under the Terrorism Act in July, making it a criminal offence to be a member of or show support for the organisation.

Friends, lawyers and relatives of Palestine Action prisoners held at HMP Bronzefield and HMP Peterborough told Middle East Eye that before the ban, there had already been efforts by prison officers to isolate them from their co-defendants.

In the wake of the proscription, however, they said these efforts intensified, with staff displaying increasingly hostile behaviour towards Palestine Action prisoners and referring to them as “terrorists".

Several prisoners known as "the Filton 24" - a group of activists currently held on remand in connection with an action targeting an Elbit Systems factory in Bristol in August 2024 - were informed they had been recategorised as TACT prisoners, meaning inmates charged or convicted with offences under the Terrorism Act.

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