More than 50 arrested at Labour conference protest backing Palestine Action

Merseyside Police said more than 50 people were arrested outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday on suspicion of carrying material supporting proscribed group Palestine Action. More than 250 protesters sat outside as arrests continued.

Among those arrested was 94-year-old human rights barrister Margaret Owen. Amnesty International condemned the arrests as a “shameful attack on freedom of speech”; Defend Our Juries, which organized the protest, called for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted and for supporters not to be prosecuted as terrorists.