
Palestine Action supporters arrested after defying terror ban with protest
The individuals have been apprehended in Parliament Square on the first day that expressing support for the group became a criminal offence.
The Metropolitan Police said this afternoon that 'arrests are being made' and further updates will be shared in due course.
Membership and support for the group has been made illegal under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has branded the vandalism of two planes by the group at RAF Brize Norton as 'disgraceful' and accused the group of a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
She added: 'This decision is specific to Palestine Action and does not affect lawful protest groups and other organisations campaigning on issues around Palestine or the Middle East.'
The move puts Palestine Action on a par with the likes of ISIS, al-Qaeda and Boko Haram. More Trending
The group said on Friday that the move will create a 'dystopian nightmare' by criminalising thousands of people overnight.
Palestine Action is taking legal action to challenge the proscription.
Metro will bring further updates as they come in.
Do you have a story you wish to share? Please contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk
MORE: Palestine Action 'will be banned' as terror group in UK
MORE: Yvette Cooper seems more scared of red paint than Gaza's bloodshed
MORE: Doctor's heartbreaking decisions choosing which babies live or die in Gaza

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Leader Live
14 minutes ago
- Leader Live
No age limit on law, says Met Police chief as 83-year-old arrested at protest
The Metropolitan Police posted on X on Saturday afternoon saying officers were responding to the demonstration in Parliament Square, London, and later added that 29 people were arrested. The protest started at about 1.10pm and officers were seen taking people away shortly after 1.30pm. Reverend Sue Parfitt, 83, who was sat in a camp chair with placards at her feet, appeared to have been taken away by officers. A woman seen lying on the ground in handcuffs was lifted by officers and put in a police van. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was asked on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg whether it was a good use of police time after the priest was pictured being taken away from the demonstration. He said: 'The law doesn't have an age limit, whether you're 18 or 80. 'If you're supporting proscribed organisations, then the law is going to be enforced. 'Officers, you could see, did it with great care and tried to preserve that person's dignity, but they're breaking a serious law. 'Palestine Action have over the last 18 months, I have to be careful what I say, because there's cases coming to trial, but some really serious criminal offences that they're accused of. There are millions of pounds worth of damage on multiple occasions. There are assaults, there are weapons used. 'It is not about protest. This is about an organisation committing serious criminality and obviously the Home Secretary was persuaded by the papers on her desk to proscribe them, that law has come into force, and if people want to defy that law, then we have to enforce it.' Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday which sought to stop the protest group being banned, less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight. The designation as a terror group means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A group had earlier said it was set to gather in Parliament Square on Saturday holding signs supporting Palestine Action, according to campaign group Defend Our Juries. In a letter to the Home Secretary, protesters said: 'We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction, but we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order.' The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7 million of damage. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was 'disgraceful' and that the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'. MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday. Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident at RAF Brize Norton. They appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Leader Live
14 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Son of Chinook 1994 helicopter crash victim visits memorial and asks for answers
RAF Chinook ZD576 was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather on June 2 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. All 25 passengers – made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army – were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew members. Joel Hornby, whose father Major Anthony Hornby was one of the victims, visited a memorial cairn at the crash site on Saturday and again on Sunday. He and other families have said they will press on with seeking a judicial review after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) dismissed their demands for a judge-led public inquiry into the incident, and have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him to intervene. Mr Hornby, who was seven when his father died, visited the site with his one-year-old son and laid a wreath at the cairn along with a note which read 'Dad, we are still fighting for you'. Speaking afterwards Mr Hornby, who lives in Berlin in Germany, said: 'We, the families of those lost, have still been denied answers over 30 years on. 'The MoD has rejected our request for a full judge-led public inquiry, and furthermore, has sealed documents relating to the crash for 100 years. 'We are requesting that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer live up to his promises on duty of candour and overrule the MoD's decision.' He has also urged people to sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to overturn the MoD decision and release the documents. Following the crash, the Chinook's pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK Government 17 years later following a campaign by the families. A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out 'numerous concerns' raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters 'unairworthy' prior to the crash. In a statement after the calls made by the families on Friday an MoD spokesperson said: 'The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died. 'We understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families. 'We provided a detailed and considered response to the pre-action protocol letter stating the reasons why we cannot accept the demand for establishing a new public inquiry. 'It's unlikely that a public inquiry would identify any new evidence or reach new conclusions on the basis of existing evidence. 'The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.' The MoD has been asked if it wishes to make further comment.


Powys County Times
28 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Met Police chief says policing football matches across country costs £70m
Football clubs should contribute more to the £70 million cost of policing their matches, the head of the Metropolitan Police said. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called for a 'polluter pays approach' and questioned why organisers of events which require policing to support their security do not pay for it. It comes after Sir Mark called for the creation of 12 to 15 bigger police forces as part of what he described as 'the first serious reform of our policing model in over 60 years'. Writing in The Sunday Times, Sir Mark said the current system of 43 county forces had not 'been fit for purpose for at least two decades'. He added that bigger forces would be better able to utilise modern technology and would reduce 'expensive' governance and support functions. Sir Mark said: 'The 43-force model was designed in the 1960s and hasn't been fit for purpose for at least two decades. It hinders the effective confrontation of today's threats and stops us fully reaping the benefits of technology. 'We need to reduce the number of forces by two-thirds, with the new bigger and fully capable regional forces supported by the best of modern technology and making better use of the limited funding available.' He also characterised Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to increase police funding by 2.3% above inflation each year in the recent spending review as 'disappointing'. Put to him on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that he did not get the money that he had hoped for in the spending review and was already planning to cut 1,700 officers, then asked how many he is going to have to cut now, he said: 'So we've cut 1,600 over the last couple of years… 1,700 officers and staff this year, that 3,300 out of an organisation just over 40,000 is a big hit.' Sir Mark said they have not got all of the details on the spending settlement but he is 'nervous about whether we'll be able to make ends meet with that' which is why he is calling for police reform. Put to him that he had warned he would have to de-prioritise some crimes, and asked what the force will not investigate, Sir Mark said: 'So I don't want policing activity to fall off the list, and I know that the mayor and the Home Secretary have pushed hard for the most police funding that we can get. 'We are determined to improve day in and day out experiences of Londoners on the streets. We can only do that if we focus ruthlessly on police work. 'When new recruits join they expect they're going to spend most of their time protecting the public, enforcing the law, catching criminals. Within a couple of years 80% of them are saying 'I spend most of my time safeguarding the vulnerable, that's critical work, but that's not the core work of policing'. 'So we need help to cut away some of these areas where other pressed public services have effectively pushed work to the police. There are 80,000 missing children from children's home a year in the country. That is really problematic. 'It also falls elsewhere. Policing of football matches across the country, mainly Premier League, cost policing £70 million it doesn't get back from football clubs. In London, it's more than a third of that.' He said there should be a 'polluter pays approach' adding: 'If you're running a profit making event that because of the nature of it, requires security, requires policing to support your security because of the criminality that is going to be experienced, why isn't the organiser paying for that, rather than local communities who lose their resources to go to football matches?' Sir Mark said the police reforms are 'essential', adding: 'If we look at the spending on policing and public safety from the 80s through to the noughties, it was a much higher level than it is today. Over the last decade or more, the proportion that governments are prepared to put to policing is much lower. I don't see that changing dramatically. 'So we've got to make the best use of every pound that governments can give to us.'