Merseyside police arrest 82 at pro-Palestine protest outside Labour conference

Merseyside police said 82 people were arrested and a further 79 reported for summons during a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the Labour party conference in Liverpool on Sunday. Police said those arrested were suspected of wearing or carrying an article supporting a proscribed organisation. They were taken into custody and released on bail, according to the force.

The protest was organised by Defend Our Juries. Demonstrators sat outside the conference centre, with many holding handmade banners expressing support for Palestine Action, which is banned. Merseyside police estimated that 180 people attended and said not everyone present had committed a criminal offence.

Defend Our Juries said more than 200 people took part. The group criticised the arrests and questioned the government’s position on protests concerning Gaza. It also said one person arrested was the 94-year-old human-rights barrister Margaret Owen.

Two activists later confronted Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband during a meal at a Pizza Express restaurant in Liverpool. Video showed one protester urging him to describe the situation in Gaza as genocide and to remove Palestine Action from the list of proscribed organisations. Miliband said he was willing to discuss the issue at another time before the protesters were escorted out.

Merseyside police said it respected the right to protest lawfully while seeking to maintain public safety. Superintendent Peter Clark said the force had prepared a policing plan and worked with the campus, organisers and security providers to support the conference. Clark said proportionate action would be taken where offences were committed.

Police said the number of arrests was 16 higher than at a comparable pro-Palestine demonstration on the first day of last year’s Labour conference in Liverpool. The source material does not state whether any charges have been filed against those arrested.