A lawyer who represented Hamas called for “copycat” direct action groups to spring up to replace the banned Palestine Action.

Franck Magennis was one of three lawyers who worked on an unsuccessful application to remove Hamas from the Home Office’s list of proscribed organisations.

It has now emerged that Mr Magennis spoke at a conference in the days before Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist group, and called for copycat groups to pick up the mantle.

Mr Magennis, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers, reposted a video of himself making the speech at the Socialist Workers’ Party’s Marxist Festival on the day the ban came into effect.