Wife of top Burnham adviser backs Sally Rooney after books withdrawn over Palestine Action support
Sarah Helm, a prominent author and the wife of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's national security adviser, has posted on X in support of Sally Rooney, whose books are being withdrawn from the UK market over her support of Palestine Action.
Helm is the wife of Jonathan Powell, who served as former prime minister Keir Starmer's adviser on national security, foreign policy and intelligence - and remained in the role when Burnham become 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."
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 government's policies towards Palestinians.
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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.
She has also previously written for Middle East Eye.
Helm is now facing calls for a police investigation by pro-Israel groups including the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Keir Starmer's Labour government proscribed Palestine Action in July 2025, meaning that expressing support for or membership of the direct action group - which aimed to cause property damage to companies manufacturing weapons that would be sold to Israel - 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.
Thousands of people have been arrested since it came into effect for holding placards expressing support for the group.
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.
“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."
Marji Mansfield, a retired tax adviser, said: "I’m a 70-year-old grandmother who was arrested for defying this ban. Counter-terrorism officers have even come to my home over a few seconds of social media footage expressing support for Palestine Action.
"Sarah Helm is similarly at risk of arrest for speaking out against the first ever ban of a direct action protest group in Britain.
"We are on the right side of history."
Earlier this week it emerged that bestselling author Sally Rooney is being forced to withdraw her books from sale in the UK because she said after Palestine Action was banned that she would use proceeds from her book sales to support it.
The novelist 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, arguing that the government had not intended for mass arrests to take place by implementing the proscription.
He argued: "I don’t think anyone’s intent was to have those people criminalised, but obviously the Supreme Court has got to look at this issue, and obviously it’s something we keep looking at as government."
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."
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