Police in the United Kingdom announced on Saturday that they would take no action regarding a social media post in which the wife of a senior security official expressed support for a home-grown, anti-Israel terrorist group.
The Metropolitan Police’s announcement Saturday was about Sarah Helm, the wife of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell. In a post on X Thursday, Helm identified herself as a supporter of Palestine Action, a group that the government last year classified as a terrorist group following a series of break-ins, some involving violent clashes with police, into businesses with ties to Israel.
“God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action,” Helm, a writer and journalist, wrote on X.
The comment was about the recent decision by Faber & Faber, a major British publisher, to drop Sally Rooney, an Irish author, over her stated support for Palestine Action.
“Current legislation in the U.K. has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on U.K. earnings to Sally Rooney for her work,” the publisher said on Wednesday.
On Friday, police said that Helm’s post was “in the process of being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required,” but the following day announced in an update: “On Thursday 15 October, we were made aware of a post on X relating to Palestine Action. The post was assessed by specialist officers and it was determined that it did not meet the criminal threshold. No further police action will be taken.”
“These views are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity,” a British government spokesperson told The Guardian.
The official statement on Friday followed criticism of Helm’s statement by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, a British-Jewish advocacy group. It called the post “gobsmacking,” demanded a police investigation and argued that Powell must publicly reject her remarks to remain in office.
