Police arrest 82 at Liverpool rally supporting banned group Palestine Action

Police arrested 82 people at a rally outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool over alleged support for Palestine Action, a group proscribed under the UK Terrorism Act in July 2025.

Merseyside Police said those detained were suspected of wearing or carrying articles supporting a proscribed organisation. All were later released on bail, according to Al Jazeera.

Among those arrested was Margaret Owen, a 94-year-old Jewish human rights barrister who received an OBE in 2013 for work advancing women’s rights. Owen told Al Jazeera that she had attended about a dozen previous protests wearing a sign declaring support for Palestine Action and had written to the Metropolitan Police about her actions, but had not previously been detained.

The Metropolitan Police did not comment on Owen’s case specifically. It said officers at earlier London demonstrations may not have witnessed an offence or may have concluded that the legal threshold for arrest had not been met.

The rally was organised by Defend Our Juries, which is campaigning for the government to lift the ban on Palestine Action. Palestine Action, founded in 2020, has targeted weapons manufacturers and associated companies, including Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company.