London (QNN)- British police are reviewing a post on X by prominent author and the wife of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, expressing support for Sally Rooney amid the withdrawal of her books from the UK market over her support for Palestine Action.
Sarah Helm is the wife of Powell, who served as former prime minister Keir Starmer's National Security Adviser, foreign policy and intelligence - and remained in the role when Burnham became Prime Minister.
Responding to the journalist Adam Boulton, who on Sky News on Thursday criticised Rooney and accused her of taking a "very strong pro-Palestine, and, I have to say, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish stance", Helm posted: "God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action. Sounds like Adam would have all our books swept off the shelves in a jiffy."
Irish novelist Sally Rooney announced this week that her books would no longer be sold in the UK over her plans to use her royalties to support Palestine Action.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson on Friday said Helm’s post is “being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required”.
A government spokesperson cited by the Reuters news agency said the views expressed in Helm’s post “are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity”.
Powell, who was formerly a senior official under Tony Blair's premiership, reportedly opposed Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband's decision to sanction Israeli settlements last month.
His wife Helm is a former foreign correspondent for The Independent newspaper and has been a longtime critic of the Israeli occupation government's policies towards Palestinians.
Helm is the author of the 2025 book Gaza: The Long Road to Destruction, 1870-2024, a history of Gaza which includes interviews with survivors of the 1948 Nakba.
Helm is now under attack from pro-Israel groups and facing calls for a police investigation, including by the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Keir Starmer's Labour government proscribed Palestine Action in July 2025, Keir Starmer's Labour government outlawed Palestine Action in July 2025, after activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force base and sprayed red paint on two aircraft to protest against UK military support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, meaning that expressing support for or membership of the direct action group is a criminal offence that could lead to a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
The ban has been widely denounced as draconian by human rights organisations.
Since the ban went into effect, police have arrested more than 3,500 people in the UK for alleged support of the group, many of them for holding up placards, according to rights group Amnesty International.
Palestine Action has contested its proscription, but the Court of Appeal upheld it in June.
Defend Our Juries, a group which campaigns against the ban, said: "How can Andy Burnham’s government possibly defend this ban in the Supreme Court next month when his own national security adviser’s wife has openly defied it? This unprecedented attack on free speech in our country is plainly unsustainable.0
“We know of 36 people who have been arrested and had their homes raided for similarly expressing support for Palestine Action on social media. We hope Sarah will not face the same treatment for standing up for free speech and Palestinian lives.”
"But her defiance further exposes the absurdity of a ban that cannot be enforced against everyone who challenges it."
Rooney said on Wednesday: "I wrote an opinion piece expressing my intention to go on supporting Palestine Action, which is not a proscribed or otherwise prohibited group here in the Republic of Ireland.
"As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence."
Rooney cancelled a trip to England last September to collect a literary award over the fear of being arrested.
The case is due to be heard at the Supreme Court later this year.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said last month that Andy Burnham's government is “looking at” whether the ban on Palestine Action was politically sensible, claiming that the government had not intended for mass arrests to take place by implementing the proscription.
Kerry Moscogiuri, the chief executive of Amnesty International UK, told The Guardian: "Whatever one’s views on Palestine Action, we should all be concerned when laws intended to combat terrorism end up silencing artistic freedom and the ability to engage in peaceful political dissent.”
"Writers should not find their books disappearing from shelves because of their political beliefs.”
"Nor should people have to choose between expressing their conscience and pursuing their livelihoods."
On Friday, following calls for a police investigation into the post, Helm voiced support for Gaza amid Israel’s genocide.
“It’s got walls and electrified fences all around. Israel bombed refugees inside a prison.”
