Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of proscribing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as a terrorist group.

While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.

To proscribe an organisation, the Home Secretary must have a reasonable belief that it is concerned in terrorism. This means the organisation participates or commits; prepares for; promotes, encourages or unlawfully glorifies; or is in some way otherwise concerned in terrorism. As well as considering whether the statutory test for proscription has been satisfied, the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe must be necessary and proportionate, having taken into account all relevant factors. HMG is unable to comment further on intelligence and security matters.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) was proscribed in June 2014. PFLP-GC is a left wing nationalist Palestinian militant organisation formed in 1968. It is based in Syria and was involved in the Palestine intifada during the 1970s and 1980s. The group is separate from the similarly named Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).