Overview

• On 9 August, Metropolitan Police arrested 532 people in Parliament Square under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act for displaying support for Palestine Action.
• Roughly half of those detained were aged 60 or above, including dozens in their seventies and octogenarians, marking the largest single-day arrest operation in a decade.
• The force implemented street bail and two temporary processing points in Westminster to handle the unprecedented caseload, but officers warn the operation is stretching resources.
• The government defends its ban with closed JTAC and Proscription Review Group assessments linking Palestine Action to violent attacks and extensive damage, a position critics dispute with disclosures that the group does not advocate violence.
• Defend Our Juries plans a 6 September sit-in targeting 1,000 participants to press for lifting the ban as a High Court judicial review approaches in the autumn.