Demonstrators arrested at Palestine Action event in Norwich
A 14th person had a sign seized by officers.The force said the protest was over by 14:00 BST. Supt Wes Hornigold said: "We will always work to facilitate peaceful protest and protect the democratic right to assembly. However, the actions of this group were unlawful."Our officers' role is to prevent disorder, damage and disruption in the local community and they will use their powers to do this. Any breaches of the law will be dealt with."
The arrests came a day after the Metropolitan Police said a further 60 people would be prosecuted for supporting Palestine Action.The force said it followed the arrest of more than 700 people since the group was banned on July 5, including 522 in central London last Saturday.More prosecutions are expected in the coming weeks, and arrangements have been put in place "that will enable us to investigate and prosecute significant numbers each week if necessary", the Met said.
Palestine Action was banned by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper following criminal damage to planes at RAF Brize Norton. As a result, membership of or support for the group is a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.Cooper said the ban was based on "strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed" as well as "plans and ideas for further attacks".But Amnesty International chief executive Sacha Deshmukh has described the mass arrests that have happened since then as "deeply concerning".Last month, the High Court ruled that Palestine Action would be able to challenge its proscription.Lawyers for the group's co-founder Huda Ammori argue that the ban breaches the right to free speech and acts as a gag on legitimate protest.
Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
ANDREW PIERCE: Londoners have the Tube, Sadiq Khan has a gravy train
London may be riddled with crime, soaring prices and poor-quality transport – but at least Mayor Sadiq Khan and his officials can enjoy the finer things in life. Latest figures reveal City Hall racked up a £2billion expenses bill in the past financial year. This includes a jaw-dropping £4.6million on printing, £805,000 on hotel accommodation and £57,000 on photography. Then there's the £48,000 spent on postage and another £31,000 for European and domestic flights. The Mayor himself also received tickets worth almost £8,000 to football matches and Taylor Swift concerts (he was last month cleared of wrongdoing in relation to the gifts). And, not to be outdone, his aides have cashed in to the tune of £11,000 with tickets to Glastonbury, the Brit Awards and the UEFA Champions League football finals. Nice work if you can get it... In the Spring Statement, Rachel Reeves announced the formation of the Defence Growth Board to oversee investment in our Armed Forces. Five months later, how many times has it met? Not once. Yet more window-dressing from a Chancellor woefully out of her depth. Cotswolds locals weren't the only Britons amazed by Mr Vance's 24-vehicle entourage during his trip to Britain. BBC grandee John Simpson tells how the late Queen Elizabeth would travel around Britain by train. 'She and her companions would have four seats in a first-class carriage, plus two more for her detectives, leaving the rest of the carriage for the public,' he notes. '[They] were always stunned to see her with so little security.' All eyes will be on London's Guildhall on October 13 when Tory big beasts gather for the tenth anniversary dinner of the Margaret Thatcher Centre – dedicated to the legacy of Britain's greatest post-war leader. But there'll be one notable absence – that of party leader Kemi Badenoch, who will be attending a fundraising event elsewhere on the same night. Lammy's angling is rather fishy... It seems that David Lammy has never held a fishing rod in his life, to judge from his laughably unconvincing fishing pose with US Vice-President JD Vance. The Foreign Secretary, whose Tottenham constituency borders the favourite spot of many London anglers, the Walthamstow Wetlands, could have made more of an effort. I doubt his photo opportunity will have hooked their votes. If Keir Starmer needs advice, he might try Tory MP Esther McVey's words of wisdom. ''Never-here Keir' has clocked up a massive 100,000 air miles in just over a year – more than any prime minister this century – while suffering the steepest drop in approval ratings for any recent election-winning leader,' she says. 'Maybe if Keir spent more time in the UK he might improve his ratings!' Police minister Dame Diana Johnson advised victims of crime to dial 999 if they're in trouble or '111' for less serious issues. She ought to know 111 is for NHS matters. The police are on 101. Labour MP Afzal Khan, fired as trade envoy to Turkey, once overdid the henna while dying his hair, giving him alarmingly ginger roots. From the Press seats above, he looked like Rita Hayworth.
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
Rachel Reeves to take aim at environmental protections in bid to speed up infrastructure projects, say reports
Rachel Reeves is preparing to strip back environmental protections in an attempt to accelerate infrastructure building and boost the economy, according to reports. The chancellor is considering major reforms that would make it more difficult for wildlife concerns to hold up developments, according to The Times. Treasury officials are said to be drafting another planning reform bill, the publication reported. The move reportedly involves tearing up parts of European environmental rules, which developers have argued slow down crucial projects. While Labour ministers have previously insisted their current planning overhaul would balance growth with nature, Ms Reeves is understood to believe that the government must go further. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill going through Parliament overrides existing habitat and nature protections, which, if passed, would allow developers to make general environmental improvements and pay into a nature restoration fund that improves habitats on other sites. But Ms Reeves is considering more contentious reforms that are likely to trigger further backlash from environmental groups, according to The Times. Among the changes under discussion are plans for a smaller, UK-only list of protected species, which would give less weight to wildlife considered rare across Europe but relatively common in Britain, The Times said. Ms Reeves is also reportedly considering abolishing the EU 'precautionary principle' that forces developers to prove projects will have no impact on protected natural sites. Instead, a new test would assess the risks and benefits of building. The chancellor is also exploring limits on legal challenges from environmental campaigners. Speaking to the House of Lords economic affairs committee last month, Ms Reeves said: 'The reason that HS2 is not coming to my city of Leeds anymore anytime soon, is because I'm afraid, as a country, we've cared more about the bats than we have about the commuter times for people in Leeds and West Yorkshire, and we've got to change that, 'Because I care more about a young family getting on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails, and I care more about my energy bills and my constituents than I do about the views of people from their windows.' High-profile examples of costly protections include the £100m Buckinghamshire 'bat tunnel' built to protect wildlife from HS2 trains and the so-called 'fish disco' at Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which uses sound to deter fish from cooling system intakes. The existing Planning and Infrastructure Bill already proposes a 'nature restoration fund' under which developers could offset environmental damage by paying for conservation schemes elsewhere. But the bill has faced criticism from both environmental groups and developers, who fear it will fail to speed up construction. Paul Miner of the countryside charity CPRE told The Times that targeting habitats regulations would 'take us backwards rather than forwards on nature recovery'.
Times
6 hours ago
- Times
Rachel Reeves to cut ‘bats and newts' in boost to developers
Rachel Reeves is preparing to strip back environmental protections in an effort to boost the economy by speeding up infrastructure projects. The chancellor is considering reforms that would make it far harder for concerns about nature to stop development, which she insists is crucial to restoring growth and improving living standards. The Treasury has begun preparing for another planning reform bill and is thinking about tearing up key parts of European environmental rules that developers say are making it harder to build key projects. Labour ministers have repeatedly insisted that their current planning overhaul will not come at the expense of nature, promising a 'win-win' system where developers will pay to offset environmental damage. But Reeves is understood to believe that the government must go significantly further, after expressing frustration that the interests of 'bats and newts' are being allowed to stymie critical infrastructure. She has tasked officials with looking at much more contentious reforms, which are likely to provoke a furious backlash from environmentalists and cause unease for some Labour MPs. A smaller, UK-only list of protected species is being planned, which would place less weight on wildlife — including types of newt — that is rare elsewhere in Europe but more common in Britain. Developers would also no longer have to prove that projects would have no impact on protected natural sites, under plans that would abolish the 'precautionary principle' enshrined in European rules. Instead, a new test would look at risks and benefits of potential projects. Further curbs to judicial review are also being considered by Reeves to stop key projects being delayed by legal challenges from environmentalists. No decisions have been made, but work is underway and Treasury sources acknowledged there was a growing belief that the government needed to go further, as Reeves says she wants to make boosting Britain's sluggish productivity the centrepiece of her autumn budget. She argued this week that building more infrastructure such as roads and railways were crucial to this aim. A Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently going through parliament attempts to encourage development through a 'nature restoration fund' through which developers will be allowed to press ahead with projects by setting up schemes elsewhere to offset their environmental impact. • The grid is struggling — and our green future hangs in the balance But the plan has been criticised by environmental groups while also attracting scepticism from some developers, who fear it will not work in practice and do little to speed up building. Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, who stood down as energy minister in May, is urging his former colleagues to go further to achieve Labour's promise of 150 major infrastructure projects. 'While I think the planning bill will work for housing, I don't think it is sufficiently focused on the major infrastructure projects, so it is encouraging that the Treasury is going to have another look at whether we've really got this right,' he said. 'The government has to face up to the tensions in the Habitat Regulations which are making it hard to build essential infrastructure and the reality is that at some point someone needs to make a hard decision and say 'on some things, you just have to press ahead'.' The rules, which incorporate the EU Habitats Directive into British law, ban killing of hundreds of species, including types of bats, news, voles, snails, spiders, insects and woodlice. Developers must prove there is no risk to protected sites and species before being allowed to go ahead with projects, under rules which critics say impose an 'impossibly high standard' on vital projects. Reeves is increasingly sympathetic to such criticism, after repeatedly hitting out at 'ridiculous' environmental protections. She said last month that she cared 'more about the young family getting on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails', after a speech in January in which she said developers should be able to 'focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about bats and newts'. Sir Keir Starmer has also expressed frustration with the ability of campaigners to delay projects through legal challenges, and is already introducing rules which limit judicial review to override the 'whims of nimbys'. Campaign groups and residents, who currently have three opportunities to apply for judicial review, which will be reduced to two, or one in cases deemed by a judge 'totally without merit'. Reeves is now considering allowing only one opportunity to bring any challenge. Some Labour MPs and peers want her to go further by using dedicated acts of parliament to prevent any legal challenge to specific named projects. The plans are at an early stage and are likely to cause tension with ministers in other departments who have pledged to protect the environment. Paul Miner, of the countryside charity CPRE, said targeting habitats regulations would 'take us backwards rather than forwards on nature recovery', adding: 'We urge the government to drop the worn-out 'builders versus blockers' narrative which wrongly frames climate and nature as being in conflict with economic growth.' Becky Pullinger, of the Wildlife Trusts, said maintaining environmental standards was 'essential if we are to achieve targets to protect and restore the natural world which is suffering huge declines, saying Reeves should abandon 'the myth that deregulation will lead to economic growth'. But Robbie Owen, head of infrastructure planning at Pinsent Masons, said: 'Ministers are finally realising that their rhetoric about reform doesn't match up up the reality of their bill. We have been saying to ministers and officials all year that the bill needs to go further and it seems that message has finally been heard.'
