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UK Home Office announces new police powers to curb repeated protests after 500 pro-Palestinian arrests in London, sparking criticism from Amnesty International UK
The Home Office announcement comes after police and lawmakers asked organisers to call off Saturday’s “Lift the Ban” protest. (Photo Credits: X)
The British police will be granted greater powers to curb repeated protests, the UK Home Office announced on Sunday. This came a day after about 500 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in central London for supporting the banned activist group Palestine Action.
The Home Office announcement comes after police and lawmakers asked organisers to call off Saturday’s “Lift the Ban” protest, which came just days after the Manchester synagogue attack where two people were killed on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, CNN reported.
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However, the organisers of the protest “Defend Our Juries” rejected the calls, saying “canceling peaceful protests lets terror win”.
According to CNN, more than 2,000 people have been arrested at similar demonstrations across the United Kingdom since Palestine Action was designated a terror organisation in July. The group aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli government.
According to a statement by the Home Office, the police forces will be granted new powers to put conditions on repeat protests even as Home Secretary orders a fresh look at how protests are policed and organised.
“The new powers, which will be brought forward as soon as possible, will allow senior officers to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ of previous protest activity. If a protest has taken place at the same site for weeks on end, and caused repeated disorder, the police will have the authority to, for example, instruct organisers to hold the event somewhere else. Anyone who breaches the conditions will risk arrest and prosecution,” it said.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes. This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on many occasions in these recent difficult days.”
Following the announcement, CNN reported that the government’s proposal has been met with fierce criticism from civil liberties advocates and a handful of opposition lawmakers, many of whom have already slammed the terror designation of Palestine Action as an assault on freedom of speech and warned that applying terrorism laws to such a group sets a dangerous precedent for protest rights.
“Is the government seriously suggesting that people protesting its decisions should only be able to do that a limited number of times? If it is, it is a ludicrous proposal and, if not, this announcement is just a cynical attempt at looking tough,” said Tom Southerden, Director of Amnesty International UK’s Law and Human Rights. “This government will always find yet another way to restrict this basic human right.”
London, United Kingdom (UK)
October 06, 2025, 01:36 IST
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