LIFT the ban on Palestine Action immediately, campaigners urged today, after official data showed terror arrests have surged to their highest level on record since the group’s proscription.

The government’s data shows 3,034 arrests were made in 2025, more than 11 times the 250 in 2024 – 92 per cent of which were linked to supporting Palestine Action after it was proscribed in July.

The proscription – and by association thousands of related arrests – has since been ruled unlawful by judges in a humiliating rebuke for the government.

The Home Office said Palestine Action arrests have driven a shift in the demographics of suspects, as those detained for showing support were more than six times more likely to be women.

And the average age of those arrested for supporting Palestine Action was 59, compared with 31 for other, unrelated terror arrests.

Police forces faced criticism last year for arresting pensioners and people with disabilities by carrying them away with their mobility devices for holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

The data also showed that 486 of terror arrests last year, 16 per cent of the total, have led to a charge so far, including 412 linked to Palestine Action.

Members or supporters of the group would face up to 14 years in prison under the ban, which was brought in by then home secretary Yvette Cooper.

The policy prompted protests and led to mass arrests of demonstrators who were holding placards supporting the group.

High Court judges ruled the government’s proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful last month after a legal challenge from the group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “disappointed” by the result and would fight to prevent the proscription being lifted.

The Home Office has been granted permission to seek to overturn the ruling at the Court of Appeal, though no hearing date has been set.

A Stop the War Coalition spokeswoman said: “The extent to which the disgraceful proscription of Palestine Action, ruled unlawful by the High Court yet still in place, has skewed and obscured the data on terror arrests is writ large by these shocking statistics.

“The ban must be immediately lifted, all terror charges against those arrested for simply holding placards dropped, and the government’s complicity in genocide ended.”

A day of action by the Lift the Ban campaign will take place on Saturday, April 11, in London.

Announcing the action, organisers Defend Our Juries said on Wednesday evening: “Once the meaning of ‘terrorism’ is separated from campaigns of violence against a civilian population and extended to include those causing economic damage or embarrassment to the rich, the powerful and the criminal, then the right to freedom of expression has no meaning and democracy is dead.

“If we let this go, the unions, climate and racial justice movements, or any other worthy cause will be next.

“But the government overreached itself and the courts have deemed the ban unlawful.

“Our groups and movements are coming together like never before, finding unity under repression.

“By refusing to give into fear and by standing together, we will face down this assault on us all.”