Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones have signed an open letter in support of their Normal People scribe Sally Rooney.
Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Rooney’s books would be withdrawn from sale in the UK over her support of the banned protest group Palestine Action.
Palestine Action is a pro-Palestinian direct action group that was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government in July 2025. After the group’s proscription, Rooney said she intended to use proceeds from her sales to support Palestine Action. Under UK law, supporting proscribed organisations is an offence. Rooney’s UK publisher Faber & Faber has also said in a statement that British antiterrorism legislation means it cannot pass on earnings from book sales to Rooney.
Rooney’s Normal People has now sold more than one million copies in the UK, while her first and third novels, Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You, have each sold more than 500,000 copies.
The open letter has also been signed by Jessie Buckley, Naomi Klein, and members of the music group Kneecap.
“Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist,” the open letter begins.
The open letter continues: “Her books must be available to the public. Their withdrawal from sale, on the basis of ill-conceived and draconian anti-terror legislation, is an affront to basic principles of free speech and expression so long taken for granted in this country. We categorically reject censorship – whether direct or indirect – and urge the government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity.”