People were pictured being carried away by police officers
17:44, 28 Sep 2025Updated 17:45, 28 Sep 2025
A protestor is carried away by police at a Palestine Action demonstration, outside the ACC Liverpool(Image: PA)
Protesters were seen being carried away by police as crowds gathered on the waterfront displaying support for Palestine Action. Merseyside Police said officers were in attendance at a Defend Our Juries protest on Sunday evening close to the Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre where the Labour Party Conference is taking place for the fourth year running.
Police said some people at the protest had displayed support for Palestine Action – a group recently banned as a proscribed terrorist organisation. Photos from the demonstration show people being carried away by police officers and others holding placards saying: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Merseyside Police confirmed people were in the process of being arrested on suspicion of wearing/carrying an article supporting a proscribed organisation. Protest group Defend Our Juries said “around 100 people have gathered silently to hold signs reading: ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’.”
A police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that officers are in attendance at a Defend Our Juries protest near to The Wheel of Liverpool this afternoon, Sunday 28 September.
A protestor is carried away by police at a Palestine Action demonstration(Image: PA)
“Some of the people in attendance have displayed material in support of Palestine Action. Officers are in the process of making arrests on suspicion of Wearing/carrying an article supporting a proscribed organisation.
“A further update will be provided when appropriate.”
Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton the previous month.
A spokesman for Defend Our Juries said: “We’ve come to remind everyone that the Labour Party is in breach of its duty to act to prevent genocide under international law. Instead it made the cowardly decision to ban the direct action group that was trying to prevent genocide.
“Labour members and trades unions are overwhelmingly against their party’s complicity in genocide and the ban on Palestine Action. Yet party officials have shut down all the debates that members wanted to have on these issues during their conference.
Police were seen carrying numerous people from a Palestine Action demonstration(Image: Getty Images)
“Labour also reneged on Jack Straw’s promise that the Terrorism Act he introduced would never be used against a domestic protest group. This sets an alarmingly authoritarian precedent and unless the law is redrawn and the ban overturned, any group that this government or a future government does not like could be treated as terrorists.
“Instead of shutting down protest, it’s time the Labour Party took the responsibility to prevent genocide seriously and impose blanket sanctions on Israel including stopping the flow of arms from factories in this country.”
One of the protesters, Keith Hackett, 71, said: “I’m risking arrest today under terrorism legislation because as a former Labour councillor in Liverpool I am deeply ashamed of how Labour are acting. If they want to start turning the party around and win back the support they have lost they need to stop their complicity in this genocide and end the ban on Palestine Action.
“They need to recognise that direct action has been a fundamental part of the gains that have been in the labour movement.”
Elsewhere in the city centre on Sunday, images and video showed large numbers of people gathered on The Strand as part of a separate protest, blocking the path of traffic through the busy city centre route.
It appears that the demonstration in question involved farmers, who are unhappy with the government’s family farm tax policy.
The protest’s primary demand is for Labour to scrap its proposed farm inheritance tax due from April 2026, according to Farmers Weekly.
But while the farming theme appears to be the predominant one in today’s protest on The Strand, a number of people voicing other concerns also joined the demonstration.
Images show some people holding up signs stating ‘no to digital ID’ in reference to the government’s recent announcement that a new digital ID will be mandatory for anyone in order to work in the UK.
On Saturday Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Liverpool and visited the ECHO office to speak to local school children before heading to the conference, which began in earnest today.
The Prime Minister comes into the conference in a difficult position, with his personal and party polling numbers very low and following a number of scandals and resignations from his top team.
He and his government will also be facing a range of protests during their time in Liverpool.