Protesters gathered near Labour’s conference in Liverpool to demand that the British government lift its ban on Palestine Action. Merseyside Police later reported more than 50 arrests on suspicion of displaying material supporting a proscribed organisation. The Independent had documented the first two arrests earlier in the same demonstration. The figures mark different moments of the police response, as the dispute over the ban reached the conference.
Protesters gathered near the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool on Sunday, 27 September, to oppose Britain’s ban on Palestine Action. The Independent described more than 200 participants in its earlier account; Al Jazeera later put attendance above 250. Both accounts concern the same demonstration outside the political gathering, although their crowd estimates belong to different reporting moments.[1], [2]
The Independent reported the first two arrests. Later, Merseyside Police said more than 50 people had been arrested, according to Al Jazeera. Police said the suspicion concerned displaying material in support of a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act. The later figure cannot be read back into the earlier report; nor does an arrest establish that a person committed an offence.[1], [2]
Participants wanted the Palestine Action ban removed. Al Jazeera reported that some displayed supportive messages and that police questioned demonstrators about their signs before taking people away. Amnesty International UK criticised the arrests on free-speech grounds. Its criticism is an advocacy position; police stated a different legal ground for the detentions. The Sunday protest and arrests did not change the group’s legal status.[1]
