Deborah Hinton was left deeply unsettled. “I was trembling,” the 81-year-old former magistrate said while relaxing in her elegant chair at her residence in Gorran Haven, Cornwall. The police who detained her had the nerve to take “my handbag, my watch, and even my miniature OBE,” she recounted.

So, what was Ms. Hinton’s offense? It was indeed a grave one. She was taken into custody for supporting a banned terrorist group, an infraction that could lead to a maximum of 14 years in prison. With her background as a former member of the National Parole Board, she was certainly aware of the implications.

Despite this, she remained steadfast in her commitment. The descendant of Sir Richard Hussey Vivian, a commander at the Battle of Waterloo, firmly stated she was “prepared to go to jail on the principle of the right to protest.”

She is not the only one. More than 500 demonstrators were detained last week during a synchronized protest supporting the newly outlawed activist group, Palestine Action. This led to accusations that the UK is morphing into a totalitarian regime, with civil liberties organization Amnesty condemning the police’s response as “outrageously disproportionate.”

However, for Deborah Hinton and her companions, this is not the case. The definition of a terrorist group, as outlined in the Terrorism Act, has remained unchanged for 25 years. It describes those committing terrorist acts as individuals involved in “serious violence against a person,” “serious damage to property,” or “creating a significant public safety risk.” These acts aim to “influence the government” and pursue a “political, religious, racial, or ideological cause.”

Palestine Action has consistently engaged in harassment, threats, and direct assaults on numerous defense contractors and military sites, affecting thousands of workers whose primary mission is to maintain the UK’s safety and security.

According to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the group has conducted three sperate and overt terror attacks within the UK. Legal proceedings, involving serious acts of violence, are ongoing. And the group is entirely open about how these acts are perpetrated in any attempt to influence government policy and promote the pro-Palestinian cause.

So the case for proscription is open and shut. Which is why Palestine Action’s supporters are now attempting to shift the goalposts and focus intention on the prosecution of those protesting against that proscription. And claiming this is itself a gratuitous assault on free speech.

But again, it isn’t. No one who was arrested in Trafalgar Square last week, or at any of the other protests, was prevented from expressing support for the Palestinians. Or attacking the Government’s stance on Gaza. They were entirely free to march, entirely free to chant ‘Viva Palestina!’, entirely free to carry their placards demanding Palestinian liberty from oppression, entirely free to don keffiyehs and indulge in their freedom-fighter cosplay.

The problem is that Palestine Action didn’t want to practise free speech, or peaceful protest. Instead, they opted to engage in deliberate acts of violence against British defence contractors and the British military, at a time when the nation is already facing a campaign of violent sabotage from foreign state actors.

One of the main responses to Palestine Action’s proscription, and the arrest of those who continue to promote and support them, has been to compare them to other banned groups, primarily Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. ‘There has been no suggestion that Palestine Action carries out, or advocates, similar kinds or levels of violence,’ stated the International Bar Association.

But by that standard, neither do other banned groups, such as National Socialist Order, National Action or the Maniacs Murder Cult. It’s not the point. The issue is not whether a group is a genocidal organisation capable of regional destabilisation. It’s whether it meets the tightly defined legal classification of a terror group. And Palestine Action does.

Another strategy has been to highlight the background of those arrested. Some are teachers. Another a priest. A number were pensioners, we have been told, apparently in mitigation. Well, so was Jamshed Javeed, who taught chemistry to 11-year-olds in Bolton, just before being sentenced to six years in jail for plotting terror attacks in Syria. And Father Patrick O’Brien, who finally admitted in 2019 to being one of the IRA’s most prolific quartermasters. Along with the 179 people over the age of 60 referred to Prevent for far-Right terror connections over the past decade.

In the wake of the acquittal of Labour councillor Ricky Jones, social media has again been awash with accusations of two-tier justice. Wrongly. Jones was found not guilty by a jury of his peers. A process that has been the bedrock of our legal system for over 1,000 years. But those being arrested in support of Palestine Action do believe in two-tier justice. They literally think that by dint of their class and social status – predominately white, liberal and affluent – they have a right to observe different laws to all the rest of us.

Last week, having expressed support for the Palestine Action protesters, Amnesty International signed a letter produced by the organisation Together With Refugees. It was aimed at a different group – and demographic – of campaigner. Those who have been peacefully picketing outside the asylum hotels that have been springing up around the country.

Addressed to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, it stated: ‘The pernicious and insidious currents of racism and hatred underlying these protests are glaring evidence of a failing system. The responsibility to end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past is yours.’

The reality is that to the supporters of Palestine Action, the right to free speech is entirely dependent on who is trying to exercise it. If you’re a middle-class, self-styled progressive, defiance of the law in pursuit of your beliefs is a birth-right. If you’re a working-class mother concerned about the safety of your daughter following an attack by an illegal migrant – not so much. Engage in entirely legal, peaceful protest and you stand accused of peddling ‘division’ and ‘hate’.

Which is why if ministers want to counter the two-tier justice narrative they need to continue to hold the line on Palestine Action. Because the issue isn’t Gaza. Or even the terror threat. It’s about whether class now gives you a get-out-of-jail free card.

Deborah Hinton and her friends wish to become martyrs to the Palestinian cause. Let’s oblige them.