Hundreds of protesters were arrested in Trafalgar Square on October 5th after defying the government’s ban on Palestine Action, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. The vigil, which began at 1 p.m., lasted six and a half hours, with the final arrests recorded at 7:30 p.m.

The 488 latest arrests bring the total number detained since the ban’s introduction on July 5, 2025, to over 2,000. Among those taken into custody were 79-year-old Elizabeth Morley, a Jewish daughter of a Holocaust survivor; Muhammad Rabbani, Managing Director of CAGE International; and Reverend Sue Parfitt, an 83-year-old Anglican priest.

Elderly and disabled demonstrators were also detained, including a blind man and two people in mobility wheelchairs, all holding signs declaring, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

The police operation involved 1,500 Metropolitan officers—roughly 70% of the force’s public order capacity—supported by 400 officers from other regions, including Northern Ireland. Amnesty International’s Patrick Corrigan criticised the deployment, calling it “astonishing to see police resources used to arrest pensioners holding cardboard signs.”

Defend Our Juries condemned the arrests as “an extraordinary affront to democracy,” accusing the Labour Government of criminalising efforts to save lives in Palestine. The group announced plans for “mass civil disobedience” from November 18 to 28 ahead of a High Court review of the ban.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski labelled the crackdown “a grim and dangerous overreach,” while Labour MP Richard Burgon described it as “absurd,” urging the government to overturn the ban immediately.

Despite the large-scale arrests, Defend Our Juries vowed to continue their protests, declaring the ban “unenforceable” and stating, “There are simply too many thousands of people who refuse to accept this unjust law.”