More than 50 demonstrators were arrested outside the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool on Sunday for displaying material supporting Palestine Action, the direct-action group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Labour government in July 2025. The protest, organised by Defend Our Juries, saw more than 250 people seated outside the conference centre holding banners before police moved in with Terrorism Act arrests. The mechanism is blunt: proscription converts a political opinion into a criminal act. Since Palestine Action was outlawed, more than 3,600 people have been arrested across the UK for showing support — often simply by holding signs reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." The arrests at Liverpool are the latest and most politically visible deployment of this power, timed to confront Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the first day of his party conference. Merseyside Police stated they respected the right to lawful protest while maintaining public safety. But the Terrorism Act framework collapses the distinction between violent action and political expression. Protesters included priests, healthcare workers, and civil liberties advocates. Amnesty International UK chief executive Kerry Moscogiuri called the arrests "a truly shameful attack on freedom of speech" and challenged Burnham to reform the laws protecting the right to demonstrate. Activists also confronted Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband inside a Liverpool restaurant, demanding he lift the ban and declare Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide. Miliband reportedly refused to comment. The dual-track approach — mass street arrest plus direct confrontation with ministers — signals an escalation strategy designed to make the proscription politically costly for Labour. The civil disobedience campaign is structured around a deliberate choice: protesters accept arrest to flood the system and generate political pressure. "Being arrested is nothing in comparison to what the people in Gaza are going through," one demonstrator told Al Jazeera. The 3,600-arrest figure represents an extraordinary burden on courts, custody suites, and the CPS — all generated by the state's decision to criminalise expression rather than action. The deeper question is precedent. Proscription under the Terrorism Act was designed for organisations planning or executing violence. Its application to a protest group — however confrontational Palestine Action's direct-action tactics were — sets a template for criminalising political movements through executive designation. Any future government inherits this tool. The Labour government that once championed civil liberties is now stress-testing whether counter-terrorism law can function as a protest suppression mechanism without triggering a constitutional crisis. Burnham's response in the coming days will determine whether this becomes a footnote or a turning point. The 250 people who sat down outside his conference were betting it would be the latter.
