PRO-Palestine protesters have brought the London Pride parade to a standstill by hurling paint and blocking roads.
Youth Demand disrupted the event at around 2pm targeting the float of technology firm CISCO – a sponsor of London Pride.
EPAPro-Palestine protesters from Youth Demand throw red paint and glue themselves to the lead float during the annual Pride parade in London[/caption]
PAMetropolitan Police officers speak to 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt during a protest in support of Palestine Action[/caption]
PAA protest organised by the Defend Our Juries group in front of the Mahatma Gandhii statue in Parliament Square[/caption]
Meanwhile arrests have been made at a protest in London being held in support of Palestine Action after a ban on the group came into force on Saturday, police said.
Campaign group Defend Our Juries said it planned to gather in Parliament Square holding signs supporting Palestine Action.
The Metropolitan Police said that officers are responding to the protest in Parliament Square and making arrests.
Officers have arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.
They have been taken into custody.
Palestine Action is a proscribed group and officers will act where criminal offences are committed.
Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday which sought to stop the protest group being banned, less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight.
The designation as a terror group means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The force posted on X saying: “Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square.
“The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence.
“Arrests are being made. Further updates will be shared here.”
It comes as the Home Office welcomed the ban on Palestine Action after the group failed to block its proscription with a late-night legal bid.
The designation as a terror group means that membership of or support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The group lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday evening, which sought to stop it being banned, less than two hours before the move came into force at midnight.
A Home Office spokesperson said on Saturday: “We welcome the Court’s decision and Palestine Action are now a proscribed group.
“The Government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and our priority remains maintaining the safety and security of our citizens.”
The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7million of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was “disgraceful” and that the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.
MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday.
Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident at Brize Norton.
They appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
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