Police are examining the social media post by writer Sarah Helm, wife of Burnham’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell.
Published on October 16, 2026
British police are examining a social media post from the wife of national security adviser Jonathan Powell in which she appears to support Palestine Action, a group banned in the country as a “terrorist” organization.
“God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestinian action,” Sarah Helm, a writer married to Powell – Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s national security adviser, wrote on X on Thursday.
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She was responding to a post defending Irish novelist Sally Rooney, who announced this week that her books would no longer be sold in the UK due to her intention to use her royalties to support Palestine Action.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said Friday that Helm’s post was “being assessed to determine whether further police investigation may be necessary.”
A government spokesperson cited by the Reuters news agency said the views expressed in Helm’s post “are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity.”
“Absurdly authoritarian ban”
The UK-based activist group Defend Our Juries defended Helm for defying what it called an “absurdly authoritarian ban on Palestinian action”.
“We know of 36 people who have been arrested and had their homes searched for similarly expressing support for Palestine Action on social media,” a spokesperson for the group said.
“We hope that Sarah will not face the same treatment for defending freedom of expression and the lives of Palestinians. »
The British government banned Palestine Action in July 2025, after activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force base and sprayed red paint on two planes to protest British military support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Being a member or supporter is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Since the ban came into force, police have arrested more than 3,500 people in the UK for alleged support of the group, many for holding up signs, according to rights group Amnesty International.
Palestine Action challenged its ban, but the Court of Appeal upheld it in June.
Britain’s new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said last month that the government was “studying” the ban on Palestinian action, adding that he did not believe the mass arrests resulting from its ban were “anyone’s intention”.
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