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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Phoebe Weston

Friday briefing: How Palestine Action ​arrests ​expose a ​new ​authoritarian ​edge​ to UK police

Police officers carry away an arrested supporter of Palestine Action attending a mass protest organized by the Defend Our Juries group as part of their campaign to end the proscription of Palestine Action, in Parliament Square, London, Britain, 09 August 2025. Palestine Action group was banned under terrorism law in the UK after activists allegedly broke into RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire in June 2025 and caused about 7 million GBP damage to British military planes
Police officers carry away an arrested supporter of Palestine Action attending a mass protest in London. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Good morning. An award-winning poet, a decorated army officer, and a retired head teacher are handcuffed together in the back of a police van ... It’s not the start of a terrible joke, but a representation of just some of the eyebrow-raising arrests the police have made in recent weeks.

These eminently establishment figures are just a few of the 700 arrested for showing support for Palestine Action after it was proscribed as a terrorist organisation. Many were in their seventies or older, and video footage made one of the mass arrests look like a giant garden party gone sour.

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