MPs have voted to proscribe campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, raising fears about freedom of expression and concerns that the move could risk criminalising legitimate protest.

Parliament voted 385-26 in favour of the draft order to amend the Terrorism Act 2000 and proscribe the group.

Palestine Action’ challenged the decision in court with an urgent hearing expected on Friday.

The move follows the group’s actions last month. Activists breached a military base and defaced two planes with red paint, protesting the UK’s support for Israel’s onslaught on Gaza

Critics highlighted the chilling effect of the ban, which will make it a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison to support or be part of the group.

Protesters gathered outside Westminster to voice their opposition to the move, while inside, MPs widely condemned the move as a “draconian overreach” and likened the group to the Suffragettes — who MPs were celebrating earlier in the day.

“Let us be clear: to equate a spray can of paint with a suicide bomb isn’t just absurd, it is grotesque. It is a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity, and suppress the truth,” said Independent MP Zarah Sultana.

The Independent Alliance – a group of Independent MPs that includes Jeremy Corbyn – issued a statement ahead of the debate, condemning the Labour Government’s use of the Terrorism Act as “an outrageous clampdown on civil disobedience” and “an assault on the democratic rights of us all.”

The statement read: “We unequivocally oppose the proscription of Palestine Action.

“Yesterday, at least 24 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded seaside café in Gaza. Among the dead were women, children, and the elderly.

Palestine Action confident of overturning “unlawful” order

After the vote, Palestine Action said: “We are confident that this unlawful order will be overturned. As United Nations experts have made clear, spraying red paint and disrupting the British-based operations of Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, is not terrorism.

“The terrorism and war crimes are being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people – armed and enabled by this government.”

Several UN special rapporteurs said they had reached out to the UK government, emphasising that “acts of protest involving property damage—but not intended to cause harm or injury—should not be classified as terrorism.”

Outlining the government’s case to MPs, the Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said: “By implementing this measure, we will remove Palestine Action’s veil of legitimacy, tackle its financial support and degrade its efforts to recruit and radicalise people into committing terrorist activity in its name.

“But we must be under no illusion. Palestine Action is not a legitimate protest group. People engaged in lawful protests don’t need weapons. People engaged in lawful protests do not throw smoke bombs and fire pyrotechnics around innocent members of the public. And people engaged in lawful protests do not cause millions of pounds of damage to national security infrastructure, including submarines and defensive equipment for Nato.

“Proscribing Palestine Action will not impinge on people’s right to protest. Those who wish to protest or express support for Palestine have always been able to and can continue to do so.”

As well as Palestine Action, the proscription order approved by Parliament also includes neo-Nazi groups Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement.

Founded in July 2020, Palestine Action describes its use of “disruptive tactics” to target “corporate enablers” and companies involved in supplying weapons to Israel, including Israel-based Elbit Systems and the French multinational Thales.