Police said Saturday that a social media post by the wife of the British prime minister's national security adviser backing the banned activist group Palestine Action did not merit a criminal investigation.
Sarah Helm, a journalist and author and wife of Jonathan Powell, Prime Minister Andy Burnham's national security adviser, posted on X Thursday, "God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action", an activist group banned as terrorist by the UK government last year.
A spokesperson for the capital's police force said specialist officers reviewed the post on Saturday and ruled it "did not meet the criminal threshold" and that "no further police action will be taken".
Helm commented after publisher Faber said this week that its Irish author, Sally Rooney, cannot sell her books in the UK because of her support for Palestine Action, which is now illegal in the UK to support or finance.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism had responded on X that Helm's post was "gobsmacking" and "clearly, the police need to investigate, and Ms Helm must face the full force of the law".
The Metropolitan Police told AFP on Friday that it was conducting an initial assessment of Helm's post to decide whether it needed further investigation.
Downing Street distanced itself from Helm's comment on Friday, saying she did not "represent the government in any capacity".
Helm's husband Powell is a civil servant who also served under former prime ministers Tony Blair and Keir Starmer.
Britain's Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal against the Palestine Action ban from its co-founder Huda Ammori next month.