Protesters clash with police at Palestine Action demonstration in central London

Protesters have clashed with police at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action as the Government moves to ban the group.
The crowd surged towards police when officers tried to detain someone in Trafalgar Square in central London, while onlookers chanted 'let them go'.
The road at one corner of the square was completely blocked by the march, with a line of police ready to stop the participants from leaving the area.
The protest had initially been planned to take place outside the Houses of Parliament, but the location was changed early on Monday morning after the Metropolitan Police imposed an exclusion zone.
The Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was 'shocked' by the planned protest and described Palestine Action as an 'organised extremist criminal group'.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement on Monday afternoon that she has decided to proscribe Palestine Action and will lay an order before Parliament next week which, if passed, will make membership and support for the protest group illegal.
The Home Secretary is due to update Parliament further following the group's vandalism of two planes at an RAF base.
The rally started at midday and must end by 3pm, Scotland Yard said.
On Sunday, Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said he could not rule out the possibility of a foreign power being behind Palestine Action
Speaking at the protest, Palestine Action spokesperson Max Geller said there had never been any evidence of such claims.
'I can't overstate how absurd and disappointing that accusation is,' he told the PA news agency.
'I want to make very clear that there has never been any evidence offered to support such a claim, and if we were allowed to be a legally recognised group, that man would be being sued right now for libel.'
Asked about Sir Mark Rowley's comments, he said: 'It's really troubling that the head of the Met would pre-empt the government and ban us from protesting (at the Houses of Parliament).
'It's a frustrating turn for democracy in this country.'
Yvette Cooper will provide MPs with more details on the move to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support it, in a written ministerial statement.
Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The decision comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine.
Speaking on Sunday, the head of the Met said he was 'shocked and frustrated' at the protest, but that until the group is proscribed the force had 'no power in law' to prevent it taking place.
'The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,' he added.
'Thousands of people attend protests of a different character every week without clashing with the law or with the police. The criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, in contrast, represent a form of extremism that I believe the overwhelming majority of the public rejects.'
Proscription will require Ms Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers.
Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company the Wagner Group.
Palestine Action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Mail​

26 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

Labour MPs show support for activists promoting 'transgender Cinderella' to primary kids

Labour MPs have shown support for an activist group which promotes ' transgender Cinderella' books to primary school children. Pop'n'Olly, which visits classrooms to teach gender ideology, welcomed politicians to a Parliamentary drop-in event which it said was sponsored by Nadia Whittome MP. The gathering included Labour MPs Kim Leadbeater, Paul Davies, Darren Paffey and Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty. These four MPs posed for social media photos in front of the Pop'n'Olly logo with a sign reading: 'I support LGBT + education'. Last night, campaigners condemned their support for the group as 'hugely concerning'. Pop'n'Olly, which describes itself as an 'LGBT+ educational resource', tells children that sex is 'assigned' at birth and gender can be seen as 'a spectrum'. It has also produced a book aimed at primary schools, 'Jamie - A Transgender Cinderella Story', featuring a girl who gets to dress as a 'boy called Jamie' for a ball and win the heart of a princess. Pop'n'Olly distributes this and other books to schools, and claims to have donated a total of 12,000 to 4,000 primaries. After the event, on June 3rd, Mr Davies reposted his photo on his own open Facebook page with the caption: 'Today I showed my support for LGBT+ education. 'I believe that every student deserves to see themselves reflected in what they learn.' However, many of Pop'n'Olly's teaching materials are highly controversial. Among them is a video called 'Gender Explained for Kids', which is marketed as 'family friendly'. It says: 'Most people's gender will be the same as their assigned sex, although this will not be the case for everyone.' It adds that gender 'can be something that someone discovers about themselves as they grow older'. And it says: 'Some people find it useful to think of gender as a spectrum'. The group's training lead, Jack Lynch, who identifies as 'non-binary', wrote last year about speaking to a group of children aged nine to 11 at a primary in Sussex 'about gender identity'. Lynch said a nine-year-old girl said during the session: 'I feel like you feel. I don't fit into a box that everyone else seems to fit into. 'I don't like doing normal girl things. I like football and wearing boys' clothes.' In 2021, Pop'n'Olly celebrated on Instagram after being awarded an 'honorary Mermaids' certificate by the now discredited Mermaids organisation. This month's event was revealed on Facebook where the group tagged in the MPs attending and boasted: 'A MASSIVE thank you to over 20 MPs, ministers and staffers who attended our drop in event in @ukparliament on Tuesday. 'We had so many fantastic conversations, shared valuable information and witnessed such amazing support for LGBT+ inclusive education at primary school! 'We have come away feeling proud, hopefully and renewed in our passion for this incredibly important work. 'A huge thank you to @nadiawhittomemp for sponsoring our event and for her ongoing support for LGBT+ Education.' The event has sparked concern that some Labour MPs may not be attuned to concerns about teaching transgender concepts to young children. Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend said: 'Pop'n'Olly is an activist organisation masquerading as an innocent, fun, children's educational resource. 'Their message to little children is that they may have been born 'wrong' and need fixing. 'They introduce doubt into impressionable children's minds – am I a girl or am I a boy? 'No child should be asking this question, as if they have a choice. 'Trans ideology can only cause confusion, doubt and fear for children too young to understand it is not the reality.' She added the transgender Cinderella story could be seen as 'turning a lesbian into a straight boy in order to win the hand of the princess'. 'It is hugely concerning that so many Labour MPs openly support such regressive, sexist and homophobic views,' she said. Parent groups have previously warned gender ideology reinforces old-fashioned stereotypes of 'male' and 'female'. The previous Tory government's guidance for 'gender-questioning children' says schools should not teach 'gender identity' as fact. However, this has been 'under review' since Labour took power last year. Pop'n'Olly is a private company which provides LGBT+ teaching resources, books, staff training and direct child-facing sessions to schools. While the company is not officially sanctioned by the Department for Education (DfE), headteachers are free to invite them or any other education company in to work with their school. Pop'n'Olly was created by Olly Pike, 39, who says he produces 'inclusive videos and children's books that combat homophobia and transphobia', while 'drawing on his background in theatre'. A spokesman for Pop'n'Olly said: 'We are incredibly proud of the work we do at Pop'n'Olly which supports schools, parents and carers in teaching about diversity and inclusion. 'Our work is supported by many thousands of teachers, educators, parents and carers, designed and delivered by education experts, in line with all current legislation and informed by research.' A Government spokesman said: 'Schools have a clear duty to safeguard their pupils – and should make sure children are never taught concepts that they are too young to understand, and never made to feel that not fitting with gender stereotypes means they were born in the wrong body. 'Our review of the Relationship, Sex, and Health Education guidance will put children's safety at its core, making clear that concepts around sex and gender should only be taught in a way that reflects the facts and law on biological sex and gender reassignment.' The MPs did not respond to attempts to contact them, and Labour declined to comment on their behalf.

The Guardian

41 minutes ago

• The Guardian

Ban on Palestine Action would have ‘chilling effect' on other protest groups

The crackdown on protest in England and Wales has been ringing alarm bells for years, but the decision to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws raises the stakes dramatically. As the group itself has said, it is the first time the government has attempted to proscribe a direct action protest organisation under the Terrorism Act, placing it alongside the likes of Islamic State, al-Qaida and National Action. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the proposed ban was evidence-based and had been assessed by a wide range of experts. 'In several attacks, Palestine Action has committed acts of serious damage to property with the aim of progressing its political cause and influencing the government,' she said. Proscribing the group, which uses direct action mainly to target Israeli weapons factories in the UK, would make it illegal not only to be a member of Palestine Action but to show support for it. Given that neither its methods nor its targets are unprecedented, a ban is likely to make every group which has an aim of 'progressing its political cause and influencing the government' through protest think twice. Greenpeace UK's co-executive director, Areeba Hamid, said a ban would 'mark a dark turn for our democracy and a new low for a government already intent on stamping out the right to protest. The police already have laws to prosecute any individuals found guilty of a crime.' Laws passed in recent years have already increased police powers to restrict and shut down protests. At the same time, protesters have often been gagged from telling juries what motivated their actions and received record prison sentences. The final straw for ministers appears to have been the embarrassing security breach at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday, in which two Palestine Action activists broke in and sprayed two military planes with red paint. But protesters have caused criminal damage to military facilities in the past and even been acquitted for it, while Cooper herself admitted it might not amount to terrorism. Before becoming prime minister, Keir Starmer successfully defended protesters who broke into an RAF base in 2003 to stop US bombers heading to Iraq. He argued that it was lawful because their intention was to prevent war crimes. Palestine Action said that pro-Israel groups had lobbied for the ban and there is evidence to support that contention. Internal government documents released under freedom of information laws have revealed meetings, apparently to discuss Palestine Action, between the government and Israeli embassy officials, although they were heavily redacted. Ministers have also met representatives from the Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems. The organisation We Believe in Israel, which Labour MP Luke Akehurst used to be director of, began a campaign this month to ban Palestine Action. In an accompanying report, it stated: 'In July 2022, the group was investigated under counter-terrorism protocols following intelligence suggesting contact between some of its members and individuals linked to Hamas-aligned networks abroad (see: Metropolitan Police briefing, classified). 'While the investigation yielded no direct terror charges, it underscored the degree of concern shared by law enforcement agencies over Palestine Action's increasingly radicalised behaviour.' It is not clear how or why We Believe in Israel was granted access to classified documents. There was no reference to links to Hamas in Cooper's statement but she did refer to Palestine Action as threatening infrastructure which supports Ukraine and Nato, echoing language in We Believe in Israel's report. With the government already unpopular among many over its stance on Gaza, the planned ban risks looking like it is based on Palestine Action's cause rather than its methods. Akiko Hart, Liberty director, said: 'Proscribing a direct-action protest group in this way potentially sets a new precedent for what we do and do not treat as terrorism. 'We're worried about the chilling effect this would have on the thousands of people who campaign for Palestine, and their ability to express themselves and take part in protests. Proscribing Palestine Action would mean that showing support for them in any way – for example, sharing a post on social media or wearing a logo – could carry a prison sentence.'

New Statesman​

42 minutes ago

• New Statesman​

Welcome to hot Palestine Action summer

A policeman spoke into his radio, a touch nervously: 'They've not got much space.' The occasion was Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's anticipated proscription of Palestine Action (PA) as a terrorist organisation. In response, the campaign group had called for an 'emergency mobilisation' outside Westminster Palace at noon today, 23 June 2025. Soon before that, though, the Metropolitan Police declared Westminster an 'exclusion zone', so the protest relocated to Trafalgar Square. But, as the square itself was fenced off for the dismantling of a stage from a weekend event, the protest was packed into the northeast corner of the square, outside St-Martin-in-the-Fields church, blocking the traffic on the Charing Cross Road for over an hour. Proscription would allow the police to use greater force when suppressing PA's activities. A moderately heavy police presence had issued from vans with recruitment appeals on the side. Some officers held cameras aloft, pointing at the crowd. Protestors filmed them back, as well as passing around boxes of face masks and distributing 'Bustcards'. Produced by volunteer group Green and Black Cross, Bustcards contain advice about your rights and the best course of action if you are arrested while protesting. For example, 'Say 'NO COMMENT' to all police questions during casual chats…For your protection and that of other people don't answer further questions.' Amnesty International said it was 'deeply concerned at the use of counter-terrorism powers to target protests'. Cooper's announcement follows two PA activists infiltrating Oxfordshire's RAF Brize Norton and tampering with two planes on Friday. Keir Starmer called the break-in 'disgraceful'. The Times estimated that Palestine Action has now caused £55 million of damage to military equipment. Other reports hold that the activists only spray-painted the jets, and that anyway they had just cycled or e-scootered into the base with no obstruction from any security. Protestors mocked the government's response on these grounds. One man's sign read 'Oh no I spilled some paint! Does that make me a terrorist?' He told me he had been on the same spot in 2003 to protest the Iraq war, and said 'It's ridiculous that Palestine Action, which has never killed anyone, is labelled a terrorist group. In that case the word terrorism has no meaning.' He wondered if any other non-lethal group had attracted the same proscription. Another man asked me, laughing, 'Are you a terrorist, sir?' More seriously, the first protestor said, the proscription was 'quite clearly an attempt to suppress pro-Palestinian voices… especially when this government has quite clearly contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza.' To 'uphold the law', one sign insisted, was to 'stop the genocide.' Others echoed the sentiment: 'To us, terrorism is killing kids', 'terrorists don't spray paint they bom kids', 'Protest is a human right: protesting genocide is a human obligation'. One protestor, Alex, said he was supporting Palestine Action 'because they are fighting actively to stop this government colluding with genocide. We believe that the people who need to be proscribed, and counted as terrorists, are Starmer and his government.' The first eddy of confrontation came when the police forced two men to the ground to arrest them. One of them was elderly and appeared to be winded and quite dazed once he was brought back to his feet. Chants of 'shame on you' rose. The rest of the physical confrontation occurred as the police escorted these detainees to a corner and behind a cordon, then as they escorted them from the scene. I did not see the violence escalate beyond firm shoving, but several of those shoved were old or otherwise frail. One man shouted 'You can't just push me what the fuck are you doing?' Another, after arguing with an unreactive officer, said 'They're not human. They're dehumanised.' The crowd asked 'Who do you serve? Who do you protect?', jeered 'Oink oink piggy wiggy', and cried, most potently, 'Over a hundred thousand dead, you're arresting us instead.' Cooper made her announcement while the protest was ongoing. She said 'this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk.' A draft proscription will be laid before parliament next Monday, 30 June. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe There was a broad cross-section of people protesting, and I was told there is broad support for Palestine Action in the country. It was raised that 350,000 people in the UK marched for Gaza on the weekend and that Jeremy Corbyn, in both the general elections he fought, won more votes than Keir Starmer did when he entered Downing Street. So if we are past the longest day of the year, the hottest are still to come. One activist said, 'Whether you're fighting for benefit rights, whether you're an asylum seeker breaking the blockade of the channel coming here to fight for themselves, whether you're a refugee, whether you're a worker, a public sector worker on low pay. There's a spirit of rebellion and it's coming together. This summer is going to be a very hot summer.' [See also: The British Left will not follow Trump into war] Related