There have been arrests for a second week running at an event in central London at which references to Palestine Action were allegedly made.
Last week, 29 people who had gathered close to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, holding signs that appeared to express support for the group, were arrested by Metropolitan police officers. Among them was an 83-year-old former priest, the Rev Sue Parfitt.
On Saturday, shortly after 1pm, two small groups of protesters demonstrated in Parliament Square, sitting at the steps of the statues of both Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The action was organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries, which said more demonstrations were due to take place elsewhere in London and in Manchester, Cardiff and Derry.
At 1.20pm, the Met released a statement on X that said: “We are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action. Officers are in the process of making arrests. We will issue any updates on this thread.”
In another post, the Met said officers had “made 41 arrests for showing support for a proscribed organisation”.
Defend Our Juries said on X: “Over 300 police officers have been seen to carry away dozens of people from the foot of statues of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi for alleged ‘terrorism offences’. Those arrested are accused of holding signs in support of Palestine Action.”
It also posted updates from demonstrations in Manchester, where the group said officers pushed “through crowds of onlookers to arrest sign-holders, including three vicars and many pensioners”, and Cardiff, where it said police were “moving in” on a group of 13 people sat outside the BBC Cymru headquarters.
In London, Met officers formed a cordon around those demonstrating, who wrote messages appearing to support Palestine Action with black markers on pieces of cardboard, and silently held the signs aloft.
Officers could be seen searching the bags of protesters and taking their ID cards. Some demonstrators could be seen lying on top of each other while police held their handmade signs.
The protesters were then led away from the statues by officers into waiting police vans parked around the square.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced plans to ban Palestine Action late last month, days after activists from the group allegedly broke into RAF Brize Norton and defaced two military aircraft with spray paint.
MPs voted in favour of proscribing the group last Wednesday. The House of Lords backed the move without a vote the day after.
UN experts, civil liberties groups, cultural figures and hundreds of lawyers have condemned the ban as draconian and said it sets a dangerous precedent by conflating protest with terrorism.
The ban means Palestine Action has become the first direct action protest group to be banned under the Terrorism Act, placing it in the same category as Islamic State, al-Qaida and the far-right group National Action.
