This ruling hands saboteurs a halo. Palestine Action has marketed criminal damage as virtue, and the state tried to draw a bright red line. The High Court on 13 February 2026 says the proscription was disproportionate, but proportional to what, the comfort of onlookers or the safety of infrastructure? When a group targets defence sites and encourages repeat offences, the deterrent signal matters. If the Terrorism Act 2000 is off limits unless bodies are on the floor, you teach radicals that property is fair game and escalation is the only way to be heard. Police and prosecutors will still have ordinary criminal law, yes, but ordinary law is slower, patchier, and easier to treat as a badge of honour. The unpopular truth is that a democratic state survives by enforcing boundaries before the fire spreads. Appeal the judgment and tighten the policy test, because free speech is not a licence to intimidate by wrecking things.