Three arrests under terrorism laws have been made over a Palestine Action attack on a UK airbase that resulted in multimillion-pound damage to two aircraft.
A 29-year-old woman and two men, aged 36 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of a terrorist offence, police said. A fourth person was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
The Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last Friday in an incident claimed by activists Palestine Action. The group released footage of campaigners, who had broken into the defence site, using electric scooters to travel across the airfield, before using modified fire extinguishers to spray paint inside the two planes. A crowbar was also used.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the cost of the damage ran into “millions of pounds” and has since unveiled plans to proscribe Palestine Action.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard described the “illegal entry and criminal vandalism” as “disgraceful and epically stupid”.
A police statement said the three arrests were "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000".
It also disclosed that a 41-year-old woman, of no fixed abode, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. The arrests took place on Thursday in Newbury, Berkshire, and in London.
“Those arrested are currently in police custody while enquiries are ongoing,” it said.
Palestine Action posted footage of the break-in on X after those involved managed to leave without being detected.
In a statement, it said Thursday’s arrests “further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it’s about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine”.
A spokesperson for the group said: “The fact this arrest has taken place before the proposed proscription has been voted on further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it’s about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine.
"This arrest confirms they are treating red paint on military planes as an act of terrorism, despite the fact that the same action by protesters for decades – including the protester Keir Starmer defended – has never been treated as terrorism.
“The only difference is that this time it was done for Palestine and this Government is in the pocket of the weapons companies arming Israel’s war crimes.”
