A 94-year-old human rights barrister was arrested during a Palestine Action demonstration held outside the Labour Party conference.
Margaret Owen was detained on Sunday as more than 250 people gathered outside the Liverpool Experience Campus to protest the proscription of the group.
Several demonstrators were arrested while seated and holding homemade placards bearing the message: “I support Palestine Action.”
Police initially watched the protest from the sidelines before moving in, telling those taking part that displaying the signs amounted to support for a proscribed organisation.
The arrests began on the opening day of the Labour conference and continued for several hours as officers led protesters away from the demonstration.
Crowds responded with cheers and chants of “free, free Palestine” whenever another protester was removed.
Those arrested were told they were being detained under the Terrorism Act for continuing to hold their placards, according to reports.
Amnesty International condemned the operation, describing the arrests as a “shameful attack on free speech”.
Police arrest a protester during a demonstration backing the proscribed group Palestine Action
An officer moves to detain a protester during the demonstration in Liverpool
Supporters of proscribed group Palestine Action sit outside the conference with homemade banners
Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said protesting remained one of the most powerful ways for the public to make its concerns heard, but successive governments had restricted that right.
She said the arrest of grandparents, teenagers and other demonstrators for holding placards outside the conference represented “a truly shameful attack on freedom of speech”.
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Moscogiuri urged the new Prime Minister to reform protest laws so communities could gather and campaign on issues important to them, asking: “Will he do so?”
Defend Our Juries, which organised the protest, said it had hoped new Prime Minister Andy Burnham would lift the ban on Palestine Action in response to public pressure and the growing cost of enforcing it.
The organisation described the group’s continued proscription as “illogical, unsustainable and immoral”.
It said hundreds of people—including teachers, pensioners and healthcare workers—were prepared to risk arrest to send a message to Mr Burnham. Merely acknowledging alleged Israeli war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Gaza was not enough, it said; the Government needed to take meaningful steps to end the UK’s alleged complicity.
The group added that the Prime Minister’s first opportunity to act could come from the conference podium, by pledging to end the prosecution and imprisonment of people under terrorism laws simply for protesting against alleged war crimes and genocide.
The protest took place as the Labour Party conference opened. The event is scheduled to run until September 30.
Police carry a protester away during the opening day of the Labour Party conference
Andy Burnham pictured on stage on the first day of the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool
But it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Andy Burnham who is facing a difficult start to the event with ministers clashing on migration and accusations that he has ‘ghosted’ the Left of the party.
There is mounting evidence that the same bitter infighting that blighted Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership will also endanger the current PM.
Tensions have flared after Angela Rayner doubled down on her criticism of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s ‘un-British’ plans to make it harder for migrants to gain permanent residence.
The Housing Secretary insisted this morning that there were ‘no splits’ and pointed out that Mr Burnham wanted ministers to ‘do politics differently’ by speaking out.
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