The Home Office published its proscription policy and process statement on 26 October, setting out how the Home Secretary decides whether to ban an organisation under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. It was laid before Parliament under section 240 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which requires the statement. It sets out the Home Office's general policies and procedures; it contains no order proscribing or deproscribing any group.
What the statement covers
An organisation may be proscribed if the Secretary of State believes it is concerned in terrorism. The statement says that means it commits or participates in terrorism, prepares for it, promotes or encourages it, including unlawful glorification, or is otherwise concerned in it. Doing one of these is enough.
The Secretary of State is not required to proscribe a group that meets that test. The statement restates five discretionary factors: the nature and scale of the group's activities, the threat to the UK, the threat to British nationals overseas, the extent of its presence in the UK, and the need to support international partners. It says the factors are neither exhaustive nor given any particular weight.
Who decides, and how
Decisions are taken by the Home Secretary, unless they concern terrorism connected to Northern Ireland. A cross-government Proscription Review Group, chaired by the Home Office, advises. An order is ordinarily laid under the draft affirmative procedure, which means both Houses must approve it; a made affirmative procedure is available in urgent cases. By convention, an order comes into force the day after it is made.
What becomes an offence
Once a group is proscribed, the statement lists these offences: belonging or professing to belong to it, in the UK or overseas; inviting support, including moral support; expressing a supportive opinion while reckless as to whether others will be encouraged to support it; arranging or managing a meeting knowing it is to support the group or will be addressed by a member, or addressing a meeting to encourage support for it; wearing clothing or displaying articles in public in a way that arouses reasonable suspicion of membership or support; and publishing an image of such clothing or articles, such as a flag or logo.
The maximum penalty under sections 11 and 12 is 14 years in prison and/or a fine. Section 13, the clothing and articles offence, is a summary offence with a maximum of 6 months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000.
Getting off the list
The organisation, or anyone affected, can apply for deproscription. The Secretary of State must decide within 90 days of the day after the application is received. A refusal can be appealed to the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission.
A separate power for state threats
The statement also records that the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 8 July 2026. It created a separate power, in section 33A of the National Security Act 2023, to designate bodies involved in foreign power threat activity. Three bodies were designated in July 2026: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyah) and the GRU Volunteer Corps. The statement says the first two are linked to the Iranian state.
What is not in the record
The statement does not name any proscribed group or announce any change to the proscribed list. It does not mention the UK national threat level. It gives no operational guidance for security operators.
What it means for security teams
This is Ops Con's reading, not Home Office guidance.
The clothing, articles and images offences reach further than membership. Teams covering events, protests or venues should know that displaying or publishing an image of a proscribed group's flag or logo can itself be an offence, and brief clients accordingly. For clients with Iran-related risk, the July designations under the state-threats power are a separate regime from proscription, and the statement treats them that way.
