MET POLICE WARN PROTESTERS OF ARRESTS NEAR US EMBASSY

The Metropolitan Police has warned that people attending a demonstration in support of Palestine Action near the US Embassy in Battersea, London, on Saturday, 31 October, face arrest. Defend Our Juries organised the protest to call for the government to lift its ban on Palestine Action. The group said 400 people had signed up to attend. Police said officers would deploy around the embassy for what the force called a “robust policing operation”. Commander Adam Slonecki is leading the operation.

The government proscribed Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 in June 2025. The Court of Appeal upheld the ban in June 2026. The ban makes membership, material support and displaying items in support of Palestine Action criminal offences in the UK. Slonecki said people holding placards could face arrest, as could people who organise the demonstration, direct others or provide logistical support. He said officers would act where expressions of support involved an offence.

Defend Our Juries called the proscription a “huge attack on our democratic right to protest”. Organisers also accused the government of participating in what they described as a genocide. More than 250 people attended a Defend Our Juries protest outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool in September. Police arrested 50 demonstrators there for supporting Palestine Action. Slonecki said those planning to attend the London demonstration knew that supporting a proscribed organisation was unlawful.