Police arrested an elderly demonstrator and another protester outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool during a protest in support of Palestine Action, a banned group.
More than 200 protesters sat outside the conference, many holding home-made banners that read: “I support Palestine Action.”
Arrests at the protest
Scores of police officers stood by before moving in to arrest an elderly man who was sitting under a tree. Police then made another arrest after telling a protester he was holding up a sign supporting a proscribed organisation. After asking the man if he was going to continue holding up the sign, police led him away.
More protesters were expected to sit in the same spot as those who had been arrested.
Organiser response
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, which organised the protest, said: “We had hoped the new PM, Andy Burnham, would do the sensible thing and bin the ban on Palestine Action given the weight of public pressure to do so and the escalating amount of resources required in enforcing it.
“Continuing the charade of the proscription of Palestine Action is illogical, unsustainable and immoral.
“Hundreds of people, from professions including teachers, pensioners, and healthcare workers, are willing to be arrested today to let Andy Burnham know that it is not enough just to say that Israel is committing war crimes including ethnic cleansing in Gaza, he must take meaningful action to end UK complicity with Israel's crimes.
“The first step the PM could do today, from the podium of his inaugural party conference is to commit to ending the prosecution and jailing of people as terrorists just for standing up against war crimes and genocide.”
