Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in UK due to Palestine Action support

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

correspondent, H. S. L. a. (2026, October 14). Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in UK due to Palestine Action support. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/14/sally-rooney-says-she-can-no-longer-sell-books-in-the-uk-because-of-palestine-action-support

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-14 · by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent

Quick Summary

Sally Rooney, author of bestsellers like "Normal People" and "Conversations With Friends," has withdrawn her books from sale in the UK due to support for Palestine Action, which was designated as a terrorist organization under the Terrorism Act last year. This decision comes after she publicly stated her intention to use book proceeds to fund Palestine Action, potentially violating UK law if Faber, her publisher, continued to pay her royalties. Rooney's statement emphasizes her commitment to freedom of expression and willingness to face legal consequences for supporting the group.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-14, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Sally Rooney, an Irish novelist known for works like Normal People and Conversations With Friends, has withdrawn her books from sale in the UK due to her support for Palestine Action, which was designated as a terrorist organization under the UK's Terrorism Act. In July 2025, Palestine Action was banned in the UK; subsequently, Rooney stated she would use proceeds from book sales to fund the group. Her publisher, Faber, has ceased supplying her books to UK booksellers out of fear that fulfilling contracts could be a criminal offense. More than 3,700 people have been arrested for alleged support of Palestine Action, with around 2,500 facing charges, although no trials have yet taken place due to an ongoing legal challenge against the group's proscription scheduled for hearing in the UK Supreme Court next month.

Written for “Sally Rooney Books Withdrawn UK” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans strongly left for article 79447 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-14

Story

📰 Sally Rooney Books Withdrawn UK
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News · 0.93 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 18% hedged 3 of 17 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles report on Sally Rooney's decision to withdraw her books from UK sales due to support for Palestine Action, describing the same specific incident on the same day.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
4 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
67/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 1826 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The Irish novelist, whose books include Normal People and Conversations With Friends, said her public support for the direct action group meant she could no longer receive royalties from UK sales.
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Also by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent →

Topics

Guardian Irish Palestine Action the Republic of Ireland the Terrorism Act

Subjects

Palestine Action ORG · 8× Faber ORG · 3× Rooney PERSON · 3× Sally Rooney PERSON · 2× BBC ORG · 1× Guardian ORG · 1× Ireland GPE · 1× Irish NORP · 1× Sally PERSON · 1× the Republic of Ireland GPE · 1×

Narrative

Rooney said last year that she had been advised by the independent producer of the TV dramatisations that any payment to her for those series, both broadcast before the ban, would be a breach of terrorism laws if it knew or suspected that she was using the royalties to fund Palestine Action.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-14
🔮 The Irish novelist, whose books include Normal People and Conversations With Friends, said her public support for the direct action group meant she could no longer receive royalties from UK sales.

Claims (23 extracted, 4 hedged)

Sally Rooney has said she is being forced to withdraw her books from sale in the UK because of her support for the banned organisation Palestine Action. asserted
she → say → organisation
The Irish novelist, whose books include Normal People and Conversations With Friends, said her public support for the direct action group meant she could no longer receive royalties from UK sales. uncertain
she → include → sales
After Palestine Action was banned last year, Rooney said she would use proceeds from her sales to support Palestine Action. asserted
she → ban → Action
Supporting organisations banned under the Terrorism Act is an offence and she subsequently cancelled a trip to the UK to pick up an award, for fear of arrest. asserted
she → support → arrest
In a statement provided to the Guardian, the bestselling author said: “‘In July 2025, the direct-action protest group Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK. asserted
group → provide → UK
The following month, 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. asserted
which → write → Ireland
“As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence. uncertain
fulfilment → publish → offence
After a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement, my publisher Faber has therefore determined that it can no longer supply my work within the UK. asserted
it → determine → UK
I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.” asserted
I → make → consequences
In a high court statement in support of the legal challenge to proscription, warning against its impact on freedom of expression, Rooney said her books could disappear from UK stores and the publication of new works in the UK could be prevented. uncertain
publication → warn → UK
Her books have been critically acclaimed – she has been described as the voice of a generation – and hugely commercially successful in the UK. asserted
she → acclaim → UK
Normal People has sold more than 1m copies, while Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You have each sold more than 500,000. asserted
You → sell → 500,000
Normal People and Conversations With Friends were also adapted by the BBC, with the former racking up 62.7m views and becoming the broadcaster’s most-streamed series of 2020. asserted
former → adapt → 2020
Rooney said last year that she had been advised by the independent producer of the TV dramatisations that any payment to her for those series, both broadcast before the ban, would be a breach of terrorism laws if it knew or suspected that she was using the royalties to fund Palestine Action. asserted
she → say → Action
Section 15 of the Terrorism Act makes it an offence if a person “provides money or other property, and knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism”. uncertain
it → make → terrorism
It carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. asserted
It → carry → prison
Her UK and Ireland publisher, Faber said: “Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work. asserted
Faber → say → work
To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher. asserted
sell → sell → publisher
“As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. asserted
we → take → format
We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories.” asserted
we → remain → territories
More than 3,700 people are believed to have been arrested in the UK for alleged support of Palestine Action since it was banned in July last year, most for holding placards saying: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” asserted
I → believe → Action
About 2,500 people have been charged, although none have been tried as a legal challenge to the ban is continuing and will be heard by the supreme court next month. asserted
challenge → charge → court
Most arrests and charges have related to section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which carries a maximum jail term of six months. asserted
which → relate → months
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