Senior figures within the UK's homeland security apparatus are cautioning that the government's recent decision to outlaw Palestine Action is creating serious strain across the Prevent counter-radicalisation system and may expose people to wrongful criminalisation, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

A member of the Home Office's homeland security group, who works closely with Prevent and spoke anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said the proscription has already generated confusion among "counter-terrorism" units, schools, local authorities and healthcare providers. Under the ban, backing or associating with Palestine Action is now a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act, a shift the official says frontline practitioners are struggling to adapt.

The official warned that individuals engaged in Palestine-related advocacy, but not aligned with Palestine Action, risk being treated as extremists because of uncertainty over what counts as prohibited support. They also expressed concern about referrals to Prevent involving people who may have voiced support for Palestine Action without posing any threat. A legal challenge to the ban is scheduled to be heard in the coming days.

"I'm concerned about a surge in referrals to the Prevent system that might have a link to Palestine advocacy in light of the fact that this very high profile group is now proscribed, and the confusion there might be on the frontline in schools and healthcare settings and all the other places that are expected to make Prevent referrals," the official said.

"I've heard senior counter-terrorism police people say that they are already seeing on the frontline concerns about this come up and I'm aware of testimonies from Prevent leads at local authorities where they are also concerned about the impact of this on their area and confusion about whether certain cases should be referred to Prevent or not."

Prevent system strained

Prevent requires public-sector bodies to flag concerns about individuals who may be vulnerable to "radicalization". Government data published this month shows referrals rose by 27% in the year to March 2025, reaching the highest level since the program began.

Although the proscription only came into effect on July 5, the official said Prevent could be "overwhelmed" at a moment when it is already under "unprecedented" pressure following the Southport attacks and an uptick in cases involving people "obsessed with violence" without a clear ideological driver.

"We have already seen police officers, let alone frontline Prevent practitioners, mistakenly arrest or interfere with people for supporting Palestine, not supporting Palestine Action," they said. "There is a risk that what's now the crime of support for Palestine Action might lead to the Prevent system becoming an unwitting sort of gateway for people to mistakenly be criminalised, especially young people who don't know the law and they don't know the consequences of expressing what might sound like – or may actually be – support for a group that, overnight, has become proscribed."

the House of Lords ahead of the ban, where independent Prevent reviewer David Anderson KC cautioned that proscription could mean "anyone who is young and foolish enough to say that its heart is in the right place, or that the government should listen to it, is committing a very serious offence for which they could be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned as a terrorist".

The homeland security official added that the decision has eroded confidence in the government's "counter-terrorism" strategy. "The proscription has damaged trust in the government more widely and Prevent specifically – so potentially eroding Prevent's effectiveness to tackle the real issues even further," they said.

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