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The Metropolitan Police arrested hundreds of people under anti-terrorism legislation on Saturday after protesters defied a government ban on Palestine Action by attending a rally in support of it.
More than 465 people carrying signs bearing phrases such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” were arrested in Parliament Square. It is the largest day of mass arrests in recent years, a Met spokesperson said.
The Met said they had dedicated “significant resources” to the event, adding that taking protesters into custody would “take time” but that the force was prepared to “arrest anyone expressing support for Palestine Action”.
A separate march organised by the Palestine Coalition, a non-proscribed group, also took place in London on Saturday.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Tens of thousands of people marched in London today to protest in support of Palestinian rights, working with the police to carry out their demonstration largely without incident . . . The right to protest is one we protect fiercely but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow proscribed organisation.”
Campaign group Defend Our Juries, which organised the protest in support of Palestine Action, claimed that 1,000 people attended.
Previous protests that have generated high numbers of arrests include the poll tax riots in 1990 and, more recently, Extinction Rebellion, although those were not proscribed under anti-terrorism legislation and thus those arrested faced far less severe penalties. There were 248 arrests for terrorism-related offences during the entirety of 2024.
The Labour government moved to ban Palestine Action this year after members of the group sabotaged military aircraft with spray paint and crowbars at RAF Brize Norton, the country’s largest air base.
The proscription makes it a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison to belong to, or support, Palestine Action. In recent weeks more than 200 people have been arrested across the UK for allegedly showing support for the group.
It is appealing against the ban, after a High Court ruling on July 30 gave it permission to do so.
Cooper said: “Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed . . . It also follows an assessment from the Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre that the group prepares for terrorism . . . Many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear — this is not a non-violent organisation.”
Sally Mann, a church minister from east London, was one of those arrested after displaying a placard in support of the group.
“I had to warn my church I might not be there tomorrow,” she said just before being arrested. “I have nothing against the police. If there’s any anger, or disappointment, it is towards our current government — which I voted for.”
Defend Our Juries said: “The fact that unprecedented numbers came out today risking arrests and possible imprisonment shows how repulsed and ashamed people are about our government’s ongoing complicity in a livestreamed genocide.”
The group said it was planning further protests in September.