STATE repression of the Palestine solidarity movement stepped up today after ministers voted 385-26 to proscribe Palestine Action as “terrorist,” which would make any form of support for the direct-action campaign unlawful.

Britain’s proscription order will reach the House of Lords today and if approved the ban — which would lump the Palestinian rights organisation with the likes of al-Qaida and neonazis National Action — would become effective in the following days.

The group, which has called its proscription unjustified and an “abuse of power,” has challenged the decision in court and an urgent hearing is expected tomorrow.

The news follows the charging of two more leaders of the movement by police and formal measures to proscribe Palestine Action introduced in the Commons.

The Metropolitan Police revealed that it is charging Stop the War Coalition chairman Alex Kenny and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt.

The charges allege failure to comply with police conditions imposed, at the behest of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, on the peaceful solidarity demonstration in January.

Palestine Solidarity director Ben Jamal and Stop the War vice-chairman Chris Nineham already face charges arising from the same protest and appear in court next week for their trial.

Others who were interviewed under caution, including MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, have not been subject to further action.

Mr Kenny said he would contest the charges “robustly.”

And in an attempt to cover the absurdity of Labour’s repressive, and rushed-through plans to ban Palestine Action, Labour bundled the ban together with the proscription of two foreign far-right micro-groups, the Maniacs Murder Cult from Moldova and the Russian Imperialist Movement.

Palestine Action said the move “further highlights how unjustified and preposterous the Home Secretary’s proposed proscription of Palestine Action is.” 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, it said, “is already attempting to force Palestine Action’s proscription through Parliament without time for proper debate by MPs and peers despite legal and human rights experts condemning this as a dangerous attack on fundamental rights to freedom of speech and protest, with the High Court’s decision to grant an urgent hearing for our legal challenge indicative of the significant implications of this case for civil liberties in our country.

“Now she has determined that parliamentarians will be given just minutes to consider each case, with all three proscription orders being debated and voted on together under a single statutory instrument,” Palestine Action said.

“The Home Secretary is borrowing tactics from Trump’s playbook to circumvent democratic debate and accountability by effectively proscribing Palestine Action via the backdoor without proper parliamentary consideration. 

“This is an extraordinary abuse of power that seeks to avoid scrutiny from MPs and shy away from the widespread condemnation of the unprecedented proposal to ban a civil disobedience protest group and label them terrorists.”

Opponents of the ban, which has met objections from a range of lawyers and United Nations experts, were set to rally outside Downing Street last night.