London police revise Palestine Action protest arrests to 325
Police said 320 people were detained for allegedly supporting the banned group outside the US embassy, ahead of a Supreme Court appeal hearing this week.
Loading… Բեռնվում է…
Police said 320 people were detained for allegedly supporting the banned group outside the US embassy, ahead of a Supreme Court appeal hearing this week.
London’s Metropolitan Police revised the total arrested at the 31 October 2026 demonstration against Palestine Action’s ban to 325. The figures, released on 1 November, replace an earlier running tally of 139, when arrests were still continuing. The Guardian said police detained 320 people for allegedly expressing support for an organization banned under the Terrorism Act.
The demonstration took place outside the US embassy in Battersea, south London. Participants held signs reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” The British direct-action group’s proscription—its designation as a banned terrorist organization—was announced to Parliament on 23 June 2025 and took effect on 5 July 2025 after approval by both Houses. Palestine Action has targeted the British arms industry, including factories of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, using occupations and property damage as well as protests.
The Guardian reported that Shabana Mahmood remained home secretary and continued to support Palestine Action’s proscription.
Defend Our Juries, the activist group that organized the demonstration, said the detentions brought the cumulative number of people arrested for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since the ban to 4,200. The group highlights what it sees as the undermining of the UK legal process concerning the right to act according to conscience, and has supported protesters in the Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain campaigns.
Before the gathering, police warned participants that they faced arrest and alleged that people taking key organizing or logistical roles would probably be committing an offense. The law includes offenses of inviting support for a banned organization and displaying items that arouse reasonable suspicion of membership or support; attendance at a protest alone is not the display offense described. It is also an offense to express an opinion or belief supportive of Palestine Action while reckless as to whether the person addressed will be encouraged to support it.
The UK Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the appeal against the proscription from Wednesday, 4 November 2026, through Thursday, 5 November 2026. The court says hearing dates are subject to change. Judgment will be reserved until a later date, rather than delivered when the hearing ends.
According to the Supreme Court, Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori is appealing against the home secretary’s decision to proscribe the group.
According to the Supreme Court’s case summary, a lower court found the ban unlawful, but the Court of Appeal reversed that decision. The Supreme Court permitted an appeal only on whether the home secretary properly applied her policy, refusing permission on the human-rights ground.
The Divisional Court found the proscription decision unlawful because the home secretary’s reasoning conflicted with her policy and the ban was incompatible with articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court of Appeal instead found that the policy had been correctly applied and the interference with those rights was proportionate. Wikipedia records that the High Court ruling was delivered on 13 February 2026 and temporarily left the ban in place to allow a government appeal, while the Court of Appeal overturned it on 15 June 2026.
The ministry said an investigation was underway to establish the circumstances after the body was found on 31 October 2026.
1 min
The Ninth Circuit rulings allow the Trump administration to threaten state election workers with criminal charges, after Judge Trina Thompson temporarily barred threats tied solely to federal allegations that voters were ineligible.
3 min
Ukraine’s president says another 80,000 households in Kyiv region lost electricity. DTEK says crews are repairing damaged facilities wherever security conditions allow.
2 min
