Politics2 min read

No further action against government adviser's wife over Palestine Action post, police say

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The police have assessed that the social media post by Sarah Helm's wife did not meet the criminal threshold, and no further police action will be taken. This decision follows the group's proscription as a terrorist organization in July 2025 and the associated criminal offense.

Key points

  • No further action will be taken against the wife of the government's national security ad…: No further action will be taken against the wife of the government's national security adviser, Sarah Helm, who posted on social media referencing Palestine Action.
  • The group, Palestine Action, was proscribed as a terrorist organization in July 2025, and…: The group, Palestine Action, was proscribed as a terrorist organization in July 2025, and supporting the group is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
  • Best-selling author Sally Rooney, whose novels will not be supplied to booksellers in the…: Best-selling author Sally Rooney, whose novels will not be supplied to booksellers in the UK following her announcement that she intends to use her royalties to support the organization, has been criticized for her decision to donate earnings from her books to the group.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

- Published

Police say no further action will be taken against the wife of the government's national security adviser after she posted on social media referencing Palestine Action.

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

She was responding to a discussion about the author Sally Rooney, whose novels will not be supplied to booksellers in the UK following her announcement that she intends to use her royalties to support the proscribed organisation.

On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said Helm's 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," the force added.

On Friday, the Met Police had said it was "in the process of being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required" after it was "made aware of an X post on Thursday, 15 October referencing Palestine Action".

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July 2025. Support of the group is a criminal offence and punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Best-selling author Rooney said she would donate earnings from her books to the group, which has a stated goal of "ending global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime".

As a result, Rooney's publisher, Faber, determined it could not sell her novels, including Normal People and Conversations with Friends, in the UK.

Original source: www.bbc.co.uk

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