Key events
As we mentioned in the opening post, the Metropolitan police, a force under huge budgetary and resource pressure, arrested a total of 532 people on Saturday at the largest demonstration relating to Palestine Action since the group was proscribed last month.
Detained protesters were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area.
Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date.
Th Met said 522 people were held for displaying an item in support of a proscribed organisation, and there were a further 10 arrests, six for assaults on officers, two for breaching Public Order Act conditions, one arrest for obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence.
Anyone showing support for Palestine Action ‘will feel the full force of the law’, justice minister says
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
The government has defended its controversial proscription of protest group Palestine Action, with the justice minister, Alex Davies-Jones, saying supporters of a “terrorist organisation will feel the full force of the law”.
The comments come after a huge demonstration against the proscription took place in London over the weekend in which 532 people were arrested. The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over, according to official figures.
Responding to questions about the protest this morning on BBC Breakfast, Davies-Jones said:
I want to thank the police for their bravery and their courage in carrying out their diligent duties in the line of public protection, and I want to state that the right to peacefully protest in this country is a cornerstone of our democracy, and of course, we respect that.
But with regards to Palestine Action, they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and their actions have not been peaceful.
They have violently carried out criminal damage to RAF aircraft. We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons which we can’t disclose because of national security.
But they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and anyone showing support for that terrorist organisation will feel the full force of the law.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, proscribed Palestine Action last month under the Terrorism Act after activists caused an estimated £7m of damage to jets at the RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire.
It made membership of or support for it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The government justifies the ban by saying it narrowly targets a group that has been organising serious criminality.
But critics say the ban is a draconian clampdown on freedom of expression and is the latest erosion of civil liberties that have been brought in under successive governments.
Palestine Action is appealing against the ban after a High Court ruling on 30 July gave it permission to do so. We will have more on Palestine Action shortly.
Here is what else is on the agenda for the rest of the day:
11am: Reform UK press conference.
11.30am: Lobby briefing with the prime minister’s spokesperson, who will likely be asked about the extent of the UK’s involvement in the Trump-Putin Ukraine summit in Alaska on Friday.
Late morning: Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition, visits East Anglia to highlight local concerns about the use of asylum hotels.
