Keir Starmer is facing an angry backlash over the arrest of hundreds of people during a protest over Palestine Action on Saturday, with a Labour peer warning it could serve to inflame community tensions even further.
Shami Chakrabarti told The Independent that the “proscription of Palestine Action is in danger of becoming a mistake of poll tax proportions” – a policy introduced by Margaret Thatcher that was so unpopular it triggered civil disobedience and riots.
Meanwhile, veteran backbencher Diane Abbott said the government is in danger of making itself look “both draconian and foolish” after it emerged that more than half of those held were over 60.
And former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain described the mass arrests as “madness” , as he said that Palestine Action was not “equivalent to real terrorist groups like Al Qaeda or Islamic State why I voted against its ban”.
It came after a government minister earlier in the day warned that supporters would “feel the full force of the law”.
The Metropolitan Police force confirmed on Sunday that 532 arrests were made, 522 held for displaying an item in support of a proscribed organisation.
The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over, according to a breakdown published by the Met Police on Sunday.
The force had warned before Saturday’s protest, which took place in Parliament Square on Saturday organised by Defend Our Juries, that it would detain anyone expressing support for Palestine Action.
The force says it will spend the coming weeks putting together case files and securing charges against those arrested.
Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones told BBC Breakfast on Monday that the “right to peacefully protest in this country is a cornerstone of our democracy, and of course, we respect that.
“But with regards to Palestine Action, they are a proscribed terrorist organisation and their actions have not been peaceful.
“They have violently carried out criminal damage to RAF aircraft.
“We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons, which we can’t disclose because of national security.
“But they are a prescribed terrorist organisation and anyone showing support for that terrorist organisation will feel the full force of the law.”
Responding to this weekend’s arrests, Baroness Chakrabarti told The Independent: “The proscription of Palestine Action is in danger of becoming a mistake of poll tax proportions.
“The courts have already found an arguable case that it breaches fundamental rights and more not less people are coming out to protest against both atrocities in Gaza and inappropriate use of terror laws at home.
“The notable presence of so many older people highlights the strength of genuine feeling. Criminal damage at airforce bases can be prosecuted but sweeping guilt by association only exacerbates community tensions and creates a bigger headache for the police.”
Meanwhile, former Labour MP Diane Abbott – who now sits as an independent – warned: “The government is in danger of making itself look both draconian and foolish.”
Ms Abbott was suspended from the Labour party for a second time last month after saying she did not regret past comments where she said that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” – claiming that was different from the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.
Left-wing Labour MP Nadia Whittome also criticised the arrests that took place over the weekend, accusing the government of “conflating protest with terrorism”.
She posted to social media site X: “Last month, I warned that proscribing Palestine Action would result in the mass criminalisation of people who are not even members of the group. Now more than 500 people have been arrested.
“I voted against the proscription. We shouldn’t be conflating protest with terrorism.”
Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Securing a charge for an offence under the Terrorism Act will, in some instances, require approval by both the Crown Prosecution Service and Attorney General Lord Hermer, police said.
Charity Amnesty International previously described the number of arrests under UK terrorism law as “deeply concerning”.
Meanwhile, Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said the Parliament Square demonstration would “go down in our country’s history as a momentous act of collective defiance of an unprecedented attack on our fundamental freedoms”.
She also criticised the policing methods used on Saturday, claiming that the fact most of those arrested at the protest were “given street bail and allowed to go home” proved the current ban was “unenforceable”.
