Planned Palestine Action protest will not try to overwhelm police
Defend Our Juries said it planned to bring together at least 500 people for its planned demonstration against the ban on Saturday with organisers 'very confident' they have recruited enough participants, a spokesperson for the campaign group said.
A formal announcement will be made on Tuesday as to whether that figure has been reached and the demonstration will go ahead.
More then 200 people were arrested at a wave of protests across the UK in response to the proscription last month, as part of the campaign co-ordinated by Defend Our Juries.
Join hundreds of others on August 9th – go to https://t.co/xHyNnPti3B for full information.
This action is conditional on reaching our target of at least 500 commitments.https://t.co/vqXWFPPScY pic.twitter.com/GTkfcMM8aP
— Defend our Juries (@DefendourJuries) August 4, 2025
Many of the protesters were detained after writing and holding up the message 'I oppose genocide I support Palestine Action' on placards or pieces of cardboard.
A Defend Our Juries spokesperson told the PA news agency: 'It is wrong to characterise this (planned demonstration) as a plan to overwhelm the police and court systems.
'If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone.'
In a further statement on its website, the campaign group said the Government had 'overreached itself' by banning Palestine Action and it was 'vital' that its campaign succeeded.
'Our groups and movements are coming together like never before, finding unity under repression,' it added.
'By refusing to give into fear and by standing together, we will face down this assault on us all.'
No location for the protest has so far been shared, but it is understood that it will take place in London and will be the only demonstration that Defend Our Juries organises on Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police have been approached for comment.
Those interested in joining the demonstration have been asked to come to briefing calls on Tuesday or Thursday, while some have had non-violence training arranged for them, Defend Our Juries said.
The move to ban Palestine Action came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident it subsequently claimed, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying that the vandalism of the planes was 'disgraceful' and the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
A High Court ruling on Wednesday decided that Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori had several 'reasonably arguable' beliefs in her challenge over the group's ban that would be heard at a three-day hearing in November, but a bid to pause the ban temporarily was refused.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Fact check: Claims around Britannia hotel in Canary Wharf
These claims differ from what the police have said about the events. The police say that people filmed leaving the hotel on mopeds were hotel staff, while the escort was provided to a delivery driver who was delivering to the hotel. Police also said that the ban on protest applies only to a specific group of people and if others want to protest at the hotel lawfully they are allowed. Protests took place outside the Britannia hotel on Sunday amid reports that asylum seekers are set to be housed at the site. Delivery drivers The video of the delivery driver being escorted by police matches images on Google Street View from the site, another video of the event has been shared on social media and the police commented on the video – all of which confirm that the event was indeed filmed at the location in Canary Wharf. The police statement said that the driver was not a resident at the hotel and that there's no evidence they were an illegal worker. 'This person was delivering to the hotel, they were not being accommodated there. There is no evidence to suggest they were working illegally,' the Met Police said. 'They were were surrounded and intimidated by those gathered outside and officers intervened to make sure they got away safely.' A screenshot from another video which showed two people on mopeds trying to leave the hotel matches Street View images from the scene. In response to that the police said: 'The two people leaving were members of staff working at the hotel who were, as with the incident this afternoon, subjected to unacceptable harassment by those waiting outside.' Protesters Videos were circulated online showing police ordering people to leave the area. However, in a statement the Metropolitan Police said that this was for a group which remained 'who were harassing occupants of the hotel and staff'. 'Their actions went well beyond protest to harassment and we used powers under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 to order that specific group to leave and not return for 28 days. 'If a different group wishes to protest in the vicinity of the hotel they are not banned from doing so, providing they do so lawfully.' Post on X (archived post and video) Post on YouTube (archived post and video from separate source) Post on X (archived) First Street View image (archived) Video on Threads (archived) First police post (archived) Post of screenshot from video (archived) Second Street View image (archived) Second police post (archived) Post of video of police asking people to leave (archived post and video) Third police post (archived)
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Tory and Reform politicians endanger trials with immigration ‘hysteria', say former ministers
Conservative and Reform UK politicians are fuelling 'hysteria and anger' over immigration, with criminal trials put at risk of collapse, former ministers and police have warned. Protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers have spread across the country in recent weeks, while debate about immigration – including instances of misinformation – has intensified. At a Reform press conference on Monday, a man awaiting trial was referred to as 'the criminal' by a Reform council leader despite not yet being convicted of any crime. Questioned on whether contempt laws had been broken, the party's leader, Nigel Farage, said it was 'good' that the council leader had become 'slightly emotional'. Amid growing pressure, the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said on Tuesday that she had asked for a change in official guidance to permit police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects. Dominic Grieve, a former Conservative attorney general, told the Guardian he was concerned about the 'fuelling of hysteria by politicians' and said some were breaking the law by commenting on future trials in serious cases such as rape and abduction. Certain politicians 'seem to have thrown the rulebook in the bonfire', he said. Britain's former top counter-terrorism chief warned that comments from Farage and the Tory shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, risked 'unwittingly' inciting violence, accusing them of copying Donald Trump's techniques by hyping fears over immigration to try to win votes. Neil Basu, a former assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan police, said it was 'appealing to the worst kind of populist sentiment'. Asked if such rhetoric risks contributing to a risk of last summer's violence, Basu said: 'Yes … they should be very careful about the language they use. It is capable, demonstrably, of causing violence.' The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, said it was time for the attorney general, Richard Hermer, to issue a formal warning to Farage about comments on live criminal cases. 'Farage and the Conservatives are … openly trying to tear down our justice system, just as the Maga movement has done in the US,' Davey said. 'Irresponsible comments like these put prosecutions at risk and could let dangerous criminals walk free. The attorney general must step in and send a formal warning to Farage that contempt of court will not be tolerated.' Others who appealed for a change in tone included the former justice secretaries Robert Buckland, David Gauke and Charlie Falconer, as well as the former chair of the justice select committee, Sir Bob Neill, who said they were worried about the febrile environment – though several said more transparency from police over the ethnicity of suspects was also now necessary to calm tensions. The row over information withheld by police has been reignited after the 19-year-old Reform leader of Warwickshire county council, George Finch, said police were refusing to confirm details of two suspects charged after an alleged rape. Among other examples cited by critics was data used by Jenrick that 40% of all of the sexual crimes were committed by foreign nationals last year. The number of convictions is significantly lower. Grieve said he was extremely concerned about the consequence of the frenzied atmosphere on contempt of court laws, also citing the trial of two British Pakistani men over a police assault at Manchester airport. 'With social media, contempt of court has gone out of the window,' he said. 'It seems to be that it's a complete free for all, and for politicians who ought to know better to participate in this is actually scandalous. Certainly with some of the recent cases, politicians seem to have thrown the rulebook in the bonfire.' Buckland said he had supported changes to make the nationality of offenders publicly available, but he was concerned about the potential for misinformation. 'Politicians have a responsibility to use objective and tested data rather than distorted or incomplete information,' he said. Neill, a former Tory MP, said he was in favour of more transparency but alarmed at the willingness of politicians to risk undermining the courts. 'I'm afraid some people, including people in elected office, frankly do not understand the importance of the checks and balances in our system, which includes protecting the jury system,' he said. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The former Labour justice secretary Charlie Falconer said: 'The opposition feel the need the whole time to get headlines by constantly describing things in an extremist way, all the time it's saying, 'society will be on the verge of collapse unless something is done,'' he said. 'The language is much, much worse than it ever was five years ago. There's a more angry electorate, and there's too many politicians willing to use lurid language.' A Home Office source said it was vital that there was 'greater clarity on how contempt of court laws work alongside social media and today's communication environment', but stopped short of issuing warnings to politicians. Hermer has so far declined to intervene to warn politicians on the risks of potentially collapsing criminal trials. In a sign of how far misinformation has spread, polling from YouGov found the British public 'dramatically overestimate' the number of illegal migrants to the UK. Almost half of Britons – 47% – think there are more migrants staying in the UK illegally rather than legally, including about a third who believe it is 'much higher'. There are varied estimates of the numbers of those living in the UK without formal status, which is difficult to calculate, but the Migration Observatory's most recent figures said it was up to 1.3 million. But legal migration is far higher – about 10.7 million people in the UK were born in a different country. Attitudes to migration have significantly hardened. About 45% of Britons say they would support 'admitting no more new migrants, and requiring large numbers of migrants who came to the UK in recent years to leave'. Rights groups including Amnesty International have cautioned against releasing suspects' ethnicities, accusing the government of 'choosing to pour fuel on the fire of dangerous narratives, instead of taking action to address racism and hostility'. Cooper said the government had asked the Law Commission to review the guidance six months ago and expected it to conclude in the autumn. 'We do think the guidance needs to change,' she said, adding that it was already the case that where police deemed it necessary more information on nationality was released.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Keir Starmer made a colossal error scrapping the Rwanda scheme — his one in, one out gimmick will deter no one
Boat missed ANOTHER day, another shambolic attempt to fix Britain's broken borders. The latest big idea is a so-called 'one in, one out' deal with France. But Home Secretary Yvette Cooper refuses to put a number on how many bogus asylum-seekers will actually be sent back. At the very most it is likely to be no more than 50 a week — while 800 are arriving every seven days The scheme does nothing to end the migrants' incentives to come to the UK — such as bountiful benefits and the booming black market. Crucially, it doesn't act as any meaningful deterrent either. We DID once have a genuine plan: sending them to Rwanda. Yet Keir Starmer made a colossal error by scrapping the scheme on his first day in power. Branding it a gimmick, he insisted it had no chance of working. But the evidence showed that it WAS. In fear of its planned introduction last summer, hundreds had already started heading to Ireland instead. That's why, in a major embarrassment to the PM, Donald Trump has nicked the idea. 25K migrants have arrived across the Channel so far this year despite Labour's promise to crackdown The President — who has already slashed illegal migration in the US by 94 per cent — is now paying Rwanda to take their migrants. How many boats would have been stopped had Labour done the same? 1 Crippled tipple WHAT a devastating blow it is to see more than 1,100 pubs and restaurants close since Labour's jobs tax Budget. And what more terrible proof of its disastrous impact than the loss of two beloved boozers and eateries a day? Punters are clearly now holding on to what little spare cash they have. Being forced to stay at home is having devastating consequences on the hospitality industry. Landlords can't cope with soaring energy costs, crippling business rates and the deeply damaging National Insurance rise. And that's before hole in her next Budget. It's a tragic mix costing our vital communities dear. Bob villains TO the Left, race-hate rapper Bob Vylan is a martyr to the Palestinian cause. Yet a surge in antisemitic attacks followed his vile rants at Glastonbury. Racism watchdog CST says six incidents of hatred were committed against a Jewish person every day in the first half of this year. Such a shameful toll shows the obvious dangers to British Jews of Government appeasement of the pro-Palestinian mob.
