At least ten members of pro-Palestine activist group Youth Demand have been arrested in London on suspicion of planning to disrupt the state opening of Parliament.
The Metropolitan Police posted on Twitter/X: “Last week, Youth Demand said they planned to disrupt the event. An hour ago, officers arrested 10 of them in Westminster on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. A further 20 to 25 have now gathered in Victoria Embankment Gardens and further arrests are being made.”
The statement added: “Everyone has the right to peaceful protest, but not to commit criminal offences or cause serious disruption” and noted that a different protest, organised by anti-monarchy group Republic, was subject to restrictions. These include being prohibited from using “equipment, whistles or other items to amplify sound given the impact it can have on horses taking part in the parade.”
Youth Demand shared a video of some activists being arrested and questioned whether police should be “arresting those who are allowing UK arms to be used to murder kids instead?” One of the activists was seen shouting “free Palestine” as they were dragged away by police officers.
Last week, the JC revealed that Youth Demand had been planning disruption in central London. They claimed that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was an “accomplice to genocide” by refusing to ban arms sales to Israel.
A spokesperson for Youth Demand told the JC that “Labour is driving genocide, and as young people we find that totally unacceptable … We’re going to do anything non-violent that we can to stop this. If you look at our track record, we’ll be doing more things like that, and escalate them.
“We are all responsible for what’s happening in our country, and so long as a protest action is non-violent and causes change, we will consider it.”
On Monday, two activists from Youth Demand were arrested for allegedly spraying graffiti next to the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
They are suspected of having painted “180,000 dead” next to the statue and posed with posters saying, “stop arming Israel” and “never again for everyone”.
