Palestine Action lawyers compare the banned group to the suffragettes as 27 protesters are arrested outside the Supreme Court

Former government barrister Tim Crosland is among those arrested at the Supreme Court

Huda Ammori, whose barrister told Supreme Court justices that Palestine Action's objectives were "aligned with, rather than abhorrent to liberal democratic values," as she challenges the group's proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Lawyers for Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori told the UK Supreme Court that the group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation despite using tactics no more extreme than the suffragettes, who carried out arson and bombings yet are now venerated by history. The five justices heard that placing Palestine Action alongside al-Qaida and Boko Haram under terrorism legislation represents a disproportionate attack on freedom of speech and protest.

Henry Blaxland KC told the court the ban has triggered more than 4,000 arrests, with 1,200 charges authorised — and those trials are now frozen pending the outcome.

Lawyers argued proscription had the opposite of its intended effect, pouring 'fuel on to a fire' and boosting the group's profile rather than denying it oxygen.

In a separate sentencing, four Palestine Action members who hammered Barclays' Burnley branch while a security guard was trapped inside were spared jail, with suspended sentences handed down by Judge Altham.

thenewshound.comJudge spares four Palestine Action members jail after they took hammers to a Barclays bank while a security guard was trapped inside BBC NewsPalestine Action ban undermined confidence in anti-terror laws, Supreme Court told The GuardianPalestine Action activists used similar tactics to the suffragettes, court told Evening StandardArrests made as Supreme Court begins hearing appeal against Palestine Action ban

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