Palestine Action communications: FOI release

Information requested

All mentions of 'Palestine Action' in emails sent to Scottish Ministers by Special Advisers, Senior Civil Servants or fellow Scottish Ministers since 7 October 2023.

All emails sent by Scottish Ministers mentioning the term 'Palestine Action' since 7 October 2023.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 29(1)(c) Advice by Law Officers; 30(b)(ii) Substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of views; 35(1)(a) Substantial prejudice to prevention or detection of crime; 35(1)(b) The apprehension or prosecution of offenders; 35(1)(c) The administration of justice and 38(1)(b) Third Party Personal Data of FOISA applies to that information.

These exemptions are subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of the public debate regarding the activities of Palestine Action and the UK Governments decision to proscribe it as an organisation. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in upholding application of exemptions due to the impact this would have on relationships with Law Enforcement partners.

In addition, we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 27(1) - Future publication: 12 weeks of FOISA applies to that information. This exemption applies as a similar FoI requests covered the period from October 2023 up to 22 June 2025 has been answered. In answering that request the information you requested will be available. The FOI response I am referring to will shortly be published on Freedom of information (FOI): document collection - gov.scot . We therefore limited this request to the time period between 22 June 2025 – 22nd July 2025 only.

Lastly, I have included one extra email and submission that is technically outside the scope of this request, as it was sent to Ministers by a junior official. However, I have chosen to include it because several ministerial replies to this submission are among the documents released under this FOI.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500476790 - Information released - Documents

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