UK cops looking into post supporting Palestine Action by wife of Burnham’s top security aide
Metropolitan Police 'assessing whether any further investigation required,' after Sarah Helm fumes on X about withdrawal of Sally Rooney books due to novelist's plan to give royalties to the proscribed terror group
British police said on Friday they were assessing a social media post after the wife of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s national security adviser appeared to express support for Palestine Action, an anti-Israel group group banned as a terrorist organization.
Journalist and author Sarah Helm, who is married to Jonathan Powell, responded on X to a post about the Irish novelist Sally Rooney, who this week announced her books would no longer be sold in Britain over her plans to use her royalties to support Palestine Action.
Helm said in the post: “God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.”
In response, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the post is “being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.”
Palestine Action, which had increasingly targeted Israel-linked defense companies, was banned shortly after a June 2025 break-in at the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton base. Due to the proscription, expressing support for the group constitutes a criminal offense.
Asked for comment, a government spokeswoman said: “These views are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity.”
Helm’s X post also criticized another British journalist who said Rooney had an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish stance, claiming he would “have all our books swept off the shelves in a jiffy.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote on X that Helm’s post was “gobsmacking” and “clearly, the police need to investigate and Ms Helm must face the full force of the law”.
It urged Powell to “publicly denounce this rhetoric” because he is involved in Middle East diplomacy.
Helm is a journalist who has written for the Sunday Times and the Independent newspapers.
In 2011 she wrote a play called “Loyalty” based on her relationship with Powell when he worked for Tony Blair as his chief of staff.
Powell is a civil servant who also served under Burhnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer.
Helm regularly comments against Israel on her X account, which has over 1,000 followers, including Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori.
Last year, Ammori challenged the ban and the High Court ruled in her favor in February, before the Court of Appeal overturned that decision in June. The Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal next month.
Amnesty International says more than 3,500 people have been arrested in Britain for alleged support of Palestine Action since the ban came into effect, many of them for holding up placards.