Dozens detained at Palestine Action protest outside Labour conference in Liverpool

More than 50 people were arrested after police moved on a protest outside the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool, where demonstrators had gathered to show support for the banned group Palestine Action. Merseyside Police said officers began detaining people at the event, organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries, shortly after warning those present that displaying material in support of a proscribed organisation was a criminal offence.

The protest began as a sit-down demonstration, with more than 250 people taking part outside the conference centre. Many of those gathered held home-made banners reading "I support Palestine Action" — a deliberately plain statement of backing for an organisation that has been proscribed since July 2025. Officers initially stood by, with scores of police officers deployed around the perimeter, before moving in to begin making arrests.

According to the force, protesters were warned that they were illegally holding signs supporting a proscribed organisation. Officers asked the demonstrators whether they intended to continue displaying the banners and, when they declined to stand down, led a number of them away, telling them they had been arrested under the Terrorism Act. Merseyside Police said it was making arrests on suspicion of people wearing or carrying an article that supported a proscribed organisation.

A force spokesperson said the police respected everyone's right to protest lawfully, while also seeking to keep the peace and ensure public safety. Adding that operations of this kind required advance preparation, the spokesperson said the force made "detailed and co-ordinated plans ahead of such events to ensure it can apply this consistently, fairly and proportionately". The statement also stressed that not everyone present at the demonstration was committing a criminal offence — a distinction echoed by organisers, who said the crowd included people who had come simply to observe.

Among those taken into custody was Margaret Owen, a human rights barrister, aged 94. Demonstrators reacted to each removal with cheers, chanting as individuals were led away or carried off by police. Images of the protest showed officers in high-visibility jackets removing a protester whose face had been covered, in a scene organisers said typified the scale of the policing operation around a peaceful demonstration.

The arrests drew immediate condemnation from Amnesty International, which described them as a "shameful attack on freedom of speech". Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said: "Protesting is one of the most effective tools we have to make our leaders listen to us, but we have seen consecutive governments crack down on our right to do it. The arrests of grandparents, teenagers and everyone in between for holding placards outside the Labour Party conference are a truly shameful attack on freedom of speech. The new prime minister can reform our laws so that communities are protected in coming together and demonstrating on the issues they care about. Will he do so?"

Defend Our Juries also criticised the enforcement of the ban, saying it hoped the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, would scrap the proscription. A spokesperson for the group said: "We had hoped the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, would do the sensible thing and bin the ban on Palestine Action given the weight of public pressure to do so and the escalating amount of resources required in enforcing it. Continuing the charade of the proscription of Palestine Action is illogical, unsustainable and immoral."

The dispute stems from the proscription of Palestine Action, which came into force in July 2025. In July, it was confirmed that the ban would be reviewed by the Supreme Court, after the group was given permission by the court to appeal. Issuing a statement shortly afterwards, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would "robustly defend this appeal", signalling that ministers intended to maintain the designation through the highest court in the country.

The Home Office has repeatedly insisted that the ban is not about protest in support of Palestinian causes, and that it was necessary because the group was causing significant criminal damage to legitimate businesses. That justification has been tested in the courts: both the High Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled that Palestine Action's activities include criminal acts, though the judges were divided over whether those incidents justified resorting to terrorism legislation.

The location of the arrests sharpened the political criticism. Demonstrators had assembled at the annual gathering of a party whose own conference programme features prominent support for Palestinian rights, with police enforcing a terrorism-law designation a few metres from the venue doors. Whether the arrests mark a hardening of enforcement, or a change of approach under new leadership, is likely to be a significant point of contention in the coming weeks.

BBC News has asked the Ministry of Justice to comment. Meanwhile, the legal position remains unsettled, with the Supreme Court's review of the proscription still outstanding and the government committed to defending it. Organisers have said enforcement of the ban requires mounting resources, and campaigners are expected to continue pressing for the legislation to be revisited.