HOME Secretary Yvette Cooper has been urged to rethink plans to proscribe Palestine Action, denounced by Liberty as a “shocking escalation of the government’s crackdown on protest.”

She is expected to put a written statement before Parliament tomorrow that would effectively brand the activist group a terrorist organisation.

It comes after Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two planes with red paint.

The incident was branded “disgraceful” by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

But former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer said today that vandalising the aircraft would not provide a legal justification for proscribing the group.

Palestine Action member Saeed Taji Farouky told the BBC the proposal is “absurd” and “rips apart the very basic concepts of British democracy and the rule of law,” adding: “It’s something everyone should be terrified about.”

A spokesman for Palestine Action added: “By making plans to ban us, the British state is effectively saying they value the property used to commit genocide more than the people killed.

“Now, they’re willing to erode their own appearance of democracy in order to protect tools used for genocide.”

Amnesty International UK has said that it was “deeply concerned at the use of counter terrorism powers to target protests.”

Sir Keir has meanwhile told The Sun that Irish rap group Kneecap’s planned Glastonbury Festival performance is not “appropriate” after one its members Liam Og O hAnnaidh appeared in court on Wednesday.

He was charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig in November last year.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said she thought the BBC “should not be showing” Kneecap’s performance at the festival.

A BBC spokesperson said: “As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers.

“Whilst the BBC doesn’t ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our output will be made in the lead-up to the festival.”

On Saturday’s national march for Palestine, Stop the War’s Chris Nineham said: “The reason they are attacking the movement and dragging so many of us through the courts is that they are frightened.

“We demand that they drop the outrageous threats to ban Palestine Action and drop all the charges.”