Sally Rooney’s books are to be withdrawn from sale across the UK after her publisher, Faber, concluded it can no longer legally pass on her UK earnings because of her declared support for the banned organisation Palestine Action. The Guardian reported the decision after Rooney provided a statement setting out the legal position she and her publisher now face.
Rooney, the Irish novelist behind Normal People and Conversations With Friends, said she had written publicly in August 2025 of her intention to go on supporting Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in July 2025. Under that ban, supporting the group is a criminal offence. Receiving royalties that she has stated she would direct towards a proscribed organisation would, her publisher concluded, expose Faber to criminal liability under the Terrorism Act.
What Rooney and Faber said
In her statement, Rooney said: ‘In July 2025, the direct-action protest group Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the 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.’
She added: ‘As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal 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. 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.’
Faber confirmed the position in its own statement: ‘Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work. To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a 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. We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories.’
The scale of what disappears from UK shelves
Rooney’s books have been among the most commercially successful literary fiction titles in the UK in recent years. Normal People has sold more than 1 million copies, while Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You have each sold more than 500,000. Both Normal People and Conversations With Friends were adapted by the BBC; the Normal People series drew 62.7 million views and was the broadcaster’s most-streamed series of 2020.
Rooney said she had also been advised by the independent producer of those TV dramatisations that any payment to her for the two series (both broadcast before the ban came into force) would breach terrorism laws if the producer knew or suspected she was directing the money towards Palestine Action. Section 15 of the Terrorism Act makes it an offence to provide money or other property where a person ‘knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism’, and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.
She previously cancelled a planned trip to the UK to collect an award, citing concern about the risk of arrest.
The legal challenge to the ban
The proscription of Palestine Action has been contested in the courts. In November 2025, the group’s co-founder Huda Ammori challenged the lawfulness of the ban at the High Court, according to Liberty, which intervened in the case alongside Amnesty International UK. In February 2026, the High Court ruled the proscription unlawful, but five Court of Appeal judges subsequently overruled that decision, unanimously finding the home secretary had acted lawfully, according to the BBC.
In a high court statement backing the legal challenge to the proscription, Rooney warned that her books could disappear from UK stores and that publication of new works in the UK could be prevented, an outcome that has now come to pass for her existing titles.
Since the ban took effect, the number of people arrested in connection with alleged Palestine Action support has reached over 3,700, most for holding placards. About 2,500 have been charged, though none have yet been tried. The Supreme Court is due to hear the legal challenge to the ban in November 2026. Section 13 of the Terrorism Act has accounted for the bulk of those arrests and charges, with that offence carrying a maximum term of six months.