Demonstrators are protesting against the UK government’s banning of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Published on September 28, 2026
Police in the United Kingdom have arrested more than 50 people protesting in support of banned group Palestine Action outside a Labor Party conference in Liverpool, northwest England.
Local Merseyside Police confirmed the arrests in a statement on Sunday.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Police said those arrested at the protest organized by Defend Our Juries had displayed material in support of Palestine Action, banned as a “terrorist” group by the Labor government in July 2025 under the Terrorism Act.
According to the statement, police respected people’s right to lawfully protest while aiming to maintain peace and ensure public safety.
More than 250 protesters gathered outside the conference center on Sunday holding banners with words of support for the group, before dozens of police began making arrests.
The singer of the English band Massive Attack, Robert Del Naja, was among those arrested.
After asking the demonstrators if they would continue holding up the signs, the officers took the people away, telling them they had been arrested under the terrorism law.
Reporting from Liverpool, Al Jazeera correspondent Milena Veselinovic said protesters wanted to put the ban “at the forefront of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s agenda” on the first day of his party’s annual conference.
“Being arrested is nothing compared to what the people of Gaza are going through, and it is also worth it because it is our right to freedom of expression,” one protester told Al Jazeera.
Another said that “there are priests, there are health workers, there are people who care deeply and care deeply about right and wrong.”
Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said protesting “is one of the most effective tools” for getting government leaders to listen and described the arrests as “a truly shameful attack on free speech”.
“The new Prime Minister can reform our laws so that communities are protected when they come together and protest on the issues they care about. Will he do it?” she said.
Activists also confronted Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband at a Liverpool restaurant, demanding he lift the ban on the group and declare Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The activists left after Miliband reportedly refused to comment.
A civil disobedience campaign has emerged since Palestine Action was banned in July 2025, with more than 3,600 people arrested for showing support for the group, often by holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
The UK Supreme Court is now set to hear the case after the Court of Appeal in London upheld the government ban in June.
Gn world
