Normal People author Sally Rooney claims she can’t publish new work in the UK due to Palestine Action support
Normal People author Sally Rooney has claimed she cannot publish new work in the UK while protest group Palestine Action faces a terrorism ban.
The Irish author, whose two novels have been adapted for television by the BBC, backed the activists, saying they were “clearly not a terrorist organisation” and condemned the government’s decision to ban them.
In August, he said he planned to use the earnings from his work and his public platform to continue supporting Palestine Action.
Now, in a witness statement submitted to the High Court, Ms Rooney has said it is “almost certain that I will no longer be able to publish or produce any new work in the UK as long as this ban remains in force”.
He claimed: “If Palestine Action is still banned by the time my next book is published, then it will be available in dozens of languages to readers around the world, but it will not reach readers in the UK because no one will be allowed to publish it (unless I give permission to distribute it for free).
Ms Rooney said this was because her UK publishers were unsure whether they could pay her for her work because of the risk of her using the money to support Palestine Action.
Ms. Rooney’s best-selling works include Conversations with Friends and Intermezzo.
After promising to donate money to the group, Downing Street said any support for a banned organization was a crime.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori took the government to court over its terrorism ban, arguing that the impact of the ban was “dramatic, severe, widespread and potentially lifelong.”
Raza Husain KC, for the plaintiff, said then home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to ban the organization in June 2025 was “new and unprecedented”. “This is the first direct action civil disobedience organization that does not advocate violence and has never been banned as terrorism,” he told the court.
He added that the decision Ms Cooper was hesitating on was “so extreme that it would make the UK an international outlier”.
Mr Husain also told the court that more than 2,000 people had been arrested after Palestine Action was banned, including “priests, teachers, pensioners, retired British Army officers” and “an 81-year-old former judge”.
At the hearing held on Wednesday, many people gathered in front of the Royal Court of Justice and carried banners saying “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” Many demonstrators were removed by police officers.
Sir James Eadie, for the government, told the court on Thursday that it was for parliament to decide what actions constituted terrorism.
He explained that a group of security experts had advised the Minister of Internal Affairs that some actions by Palestine Action could be described as acts of terrorism.
