Hundreds of people were arrested for showing support to a proscribed terrorist organisation at the weekend.
Protesters holds placards in Parliament Square (Image: Getty)
A justice minister has vowed that supporters of a banned terrorist organisation “will feel the full force of the law” following arrests at a mass protest. The Met Police confirmed on Sunday that 522 people were held for displaying an item in support for Palestine Action, out of the total 532 arrests made during the policing operation.
Some 348 of those arrested were aged 50 or over, according to a breakdown published by the force. Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones said: “I want to thank the police for their bravery and their courage in carrying out their diligent duties in the line of public protection, and I want to state that the right to peacefully protest in this country is a cornerstone of our democracy, and of course, we respect that.
“But with regards to Palestine Action, they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and their actions have not been peaceful. They have violently carried out criminal damage to RAF aircraft.
“We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons which we can’t disclose because of national security.
“But they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and anyone showing support for that terrorist organisation will feel the full force of the law.”
Downing Street added that Palestine Action is a “violent organisation” that has committed “significant injury”.
Asked about people arrested as part of protests linked to the group, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’ve said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage, and as I say, it has met the tests as set out under the Terrorism Act to be proscribed.”
Downing Street said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – an independent authority based within MI5 – had found the organisation had carried out three separate acts of terrorism.
The Government is unable to provide “all of the detail at this stage” but the proscription has been made through a “robust, evidence-based process”, it said.
“We’ve said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage,” Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman added.
Ms Davies-Jones insisted a prison place will be available “for someone for public protection if that’s required” amid fears the justice system might be “really struggling to cope” with the number of arrests during recent protests.
She said: “We have put in place all of our contingency plans for this.
“We are prepared, as we always are, to take action, and I want to reassure the public that there will always be a prison place available for someone for public protection if that’s required.
“You know, we did inherit a criminal justice system in absolute crisis from the previous government – our prisons close collapse, the court system in chaos – however, thanks to the action that this Government has taken in order to free up capacity in our prisons, in order to get on top of the backlog in our criminal courts, we do have contingency and capability within the criminal justice system in order to take action.”