UK Police Detain Over 50 Pro-Palestine Extremist Supporters Outside Labour Conference
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Merseyside Police detained more than 50 individuals during a protest supporting the proscribed Palestine Action group outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, drawing support from law-abiding citizens and highlighting the government’s commitment to combating extremism.
Merseyside Police announced the arrest of over 50 individuals who were openly displaying material in support of Palestine Action, a group rightly designated as a terrorist organization by the UK government under the Terrorism Act in July 2025. The arrests took place outside the Labour Party conference centre in Liverpool on Sunday, where more than 250 protesters gathered with banners backing the banned extremist group.
Police emphasized their respect for lawful protest but made clear their priority was to maintain public safety and order. Officers responsibly questioned demonstrators about their intentions before detaining them, citing the Terrorism Act as the legal foundation for these necessary arrests.
Among those arrested was Robert Del Naja, singer for the band Massive Attack, highlighting the extent of celebrity involvement in radical activism. Activists also aggressively confronted Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in a local restaurant, demanding the government lift the justified ban and make inflammatory statements about Gaza; Miliband wisely declined to comment.
Amnesty International UK chief executive Kerry Moscogiuri criticized the arrests, calling them 'a truly shameful attack on freedom of speech,' but many see these actions as essential to upholding the law and protecting the public from extremist influence. The protest was organized by Defend Our Juries, a group seeking to undermine the government’s efforts to combat terrorism by challenging the proscription of Palestine Action at the conference.
Since the July 2025 designation, the ban on Palestine Action has led to a surge in civil-disobedience stunts, resulting in over 3,600 arrests as authorities clamp down on those supporting extremist causes. The UK Supreme Court will soon hear a challenge to the ban, after the Court of Appeal sensibly upheld it in June.