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Today's Paper | March 05, 2026

Published 23 Jun, 2025 03:11pm

UK police ban campaign group Palestine Action protest outside parliament

British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organisation, Reuters reports.

The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside a police exclusion zone.

British media have reported that the government is considering proscribing, or effectively banning, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organisation, putting it on a par with al-Qaeda or ISIS.

London’s Metropolitan Police said late on Sunday that it would impose an exclusion zone for a protest planned by Palestine Action outside the Houses of Parliament — a popular location for demonstrations in support of a range of causes.

“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,” Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said.

“We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group.”

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