court

More than 130 public figures express support for the proscribed group as the UK prepares for another legal fight.

More than 130 public figures have written to the UK’s Court of Appeal expressing support for Palestine Action, days before a hearing to decide on the lawfulness of the government’s ban on the direct action group.

A letter released Friday, bearing 132 signatures and addressed to the UK’s Court of Appeal, read: “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action.”

The declaration came in advance of hearings scheduled for April 28 and 29, during which the court is slated to hear the government’s appeal to uphold its proscription of Palestine Action.

Internationally known figures, including the writer Sally Rooney, climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and American scholar Judith Butler are among those who signed the declaration.

Others include British musicians Nadine Shah and Brian Eno, writers China Mieville, Lina Meruane and Tariq Ali, along with dozens of professors at leading universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Columbia and the London School of Economics.

The letter’s singular sentence has become a well-known slogan used to express support for Palestine Action, which the UK government proscribed as a “terrorist organisation” in July 2025.

That designation – which placed Palestine Action in the same category as Hezbollah and al-Qaeda – makes it illegal to be a member of or express support for the group, offences punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

In February, the UK’s High Court ruled that the government’s ban was unlawful and disproportionate, prompting London’s Metropolitan Police to say it would refrain from arresting demonstrators rallying in support of the group.

But with the government appeal pending, the Met reversed course, and officers arrested more than 500 people at a protest earlier this month.

Defend Our Juries, an activist group that has organised rallies and called for the government to drop its proscription, said in a statement accompanying Friday’s letter that the signatories were vulnerable to “terrorism charges”.

“If the police proceed to arrest these scholars on terrorism charges, the authoritarian nature of the ban will be further exposed,” the group wrote. “But if they don’t, the more than 3,000 previous arrests of people for saying precisely the same thing will be shown to be not just unlawful but arbitrary and discriminatory.”

In their own statements, several signatories expressed solidarity with Palestine Action and called on the government to halt its appeal.

The UK government is “silencing the messenger”, said Neve Gordon, an international law professor at Queen Mary University of London.

“The decision to appeal the ruling rendering the proscription unlawful is yet another sign of the government’s moral bankruptcy,” he added.

VICTORIA Beckham has lost a row with US luxury handbag brand Vera Bradley over using the initials VB.

The fashion designer’s Victoria Beckham Ltd team hired intellectual property lawyers in a bid to stop the company registering the letters.

They argued that Posh Spice Victoria was now known globally for her initials — the basis of her beauty firm logo.

But they have now backed down and the application, first published in the Trademark Journal in the US last year, has been registered.

Vera Bradley rakes in more than £200million a year, with customers including Taylor Swift and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Victoria Beckham Ltd — represented by top LA attorney Eleanor Lackman from law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp — asked for more time to put together their case before finally dropping it.

FAMILY FIRST

Victoria Beckham addresses ‘publicly challenging year’ amid Brooklyn feud

ALWAYS BE THERE

Spice Girls mark Victoria Beckham’s birthday with sweet throwback photos

The US Patent and Trademark Office said: “The Board notes the request, filed by Potential Opposer, Victoria Beckham Limited, to relinquish its extension of time to file a notice of opposition.

“In view thereof, the relinquishment releases the record of application for further processing.”

Last October, Victoria, 52, lost a similar battle with the Norwegian firm Vendela Beauty, with the company successfully arguing she was not famous enough in their country.

And in 2020, the former Spice Girl settled with Australian-based VB Skinland after they successfully registered the trademarks VB Salon and VB Skinlab.

Nic kick a Vic shtick

ACTRESS Nicola Peltz gets her kicks by poking fun at her mother-in-law’s trademark pose.

Brooklyn Beckham’s wife, 31, plays a ballerina in upcoming film Prima — and posted a picture online showing her leg pointed high in the air.

But one comment said: “This is Victoria Beckham’s signature move — stop trolling your mother-in-law.”

Nicola and Brooklyn, 27, are embroiled in a feud with his parents Victoria and David.

By Olivia Monk