What unfolded in Trafalgar Square
More than 200 people have been arrested in central London during a large demonstration against the government’s ban on Palestine Action, with the Metropolitan Police saying officers were detaining those who showed support for the proscribed organisation.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square for the event, which organisers had named “Everyone Day” and billed as a show of “unwaning resistance to the ban on Palestine Action”. Many carried placards bearing the slogan “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”, a message that has featured prominently at previous rallies linked to the group. Other signs voiced support for the right to protest, or expressed opposition to the United States and Israel.
The Met confirmed that by around 4.50pm on Saturday it had made 212 arrests, and that further detentions were continuing “where people are showing support for a proscribed organisation”. The rally had been called by the campaign group Defend our Juries.
Why the ban remains in force despite a court ruling
Expressing support for Palestine Action became a criminal offence in July 2025, after the group was proscribed under anti-terror legislation by the then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. In February, the High Court ruled that the ban was unlawful, but the proscription has remained in place pending an appeal.
In the aftermath of that judgment, the Met had signalled that its officers were unlikely to continue arresting demonstrators who voiced support for the group. That position shifted in March, when the force announced it would resume making such arrests. Ahead of Saturday’s protest, commander Claire Smart, who is leading policing operations in London this weekend, warned attendees to weigh the “potential consequences” of turning up. “Those attending should be aware that showing support for a proscribed organisation is an offence under the Terrorism Act, and we will not hesitate to act where the law is broken,” she said.
Since the original ban took effect last summer, more than 2,200 people have been arrested on suspicion of expressing support for Palestine Action. The trials of hundreds of those accused of holding up the placards have been paused while the broader legal fight over the proscription works its way through the courts.
Familiar faces and repeat arrests among the crowd
Among those detained on Saturday was Robert Del Naja, a founding member of the Bristol trip-hop collective Massive Attack, best known for the 1990s classic Unfinished Sympathy. Speaking to PA News before the protest, he described the decision by police to resume making arrests as “ridiculous” and said he was confident that, if detained, he could challenge the move in court as “an unlawful arrest”.
Del Naja went further in defending the group itself, arguing: “I think that the actions of Palestine Action were highly patriotic because they were pretty much protecting our country from getting involved in serious war crimes, and breaking international law. How much more patriotic can you be than that?”
Other demonstrators struck a similar note. Linda Walker told the BBC she had come to the protest because “there’s been a genocide going on for the last two-and-a-half years”, adding: “The only people [the government] are willing to take action against are the people trying to stop it.” Israel has consistently rejected claims that its operations in Gaza amount to genocide, insisting they are acts of self-defence.
Another woman said she had already been arrested ten times at previous protests and was prepared to be taken into custody again. For many in Trafalgar Square, the prospect of arrest appeared to have become part of the protest itself rather than a deterrent from it.
