Roger Waters defies UK Palestine Action ban with support message

Pink Floyd's singer and songwriter, Roger Waters, has defied the UK's ban on Palestine Action by posting a message of support for the now proscribed group.

In a video recorded on 5 July — purportedly hours after the ban had come into effect at midnight on Saturday — Waters slammed the government's move to proscribe the group as a terror organisation.

"This is Independence Day, July the fifth, 2025. I declare my independence from the government of the UK," Waters said.

"They are nonviolent. They are absolutely not terrorist in any way," he added, referring to the group. 

The 81-year-old also accused the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, of being "corrupted by agents of a genocidal foreign power," in an apparent reference to Israel.

"We will not be rolled over by this appalling Labour government in the United Kingdom," he said.

Waters' video was released on the same day that 27 people were arrested in central London after expressing solidarity with the group and denouncing the UK government's decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

After the law came into effect on Saturday, membership of Palestine Action and support for the group is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Activists have slammed the ban as an attack on the right to protest.

Prior to being banned on Saturday, Palestine Action organised hundreds of direct action protests around the UK, mainly targeting firms linked to Israel and its military, including Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems.

Calls to ban the group gained momentum after two of its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and spray-painted two planes in protest against Britain's support for Israel.

While authorities have yet to comment on Waters' video, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has threatened to file a private prosecution if authorities do not act.

"Campaign Against Antisemitism is preparing a criminal prosecution, which would require the consent of the director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson," a CAA spokesperson was quoted by The Telegraph as saying.

The CAA is a UK-based group headed by pro-Israel activist Gideon Falter, who also holds the post as vice chairman of the pro-Israel Jewish National Fund UK.