The ‘Ban Starmer Three’ – from left, Gabriel Carlyle, Anthony Bradnum (both from Hastings) and Emma Sangster from London – photos taken by Andrea Needham during their arrests.
Palestine Action ban: more arrests of Hastings residents
Two peace activists from Hastings were arrested on Saturday (19 July) afternoon at the Gaza March in central London for holding placards saying: ‘Oppose Genocide. Ban Starmer not Palestine Action’. Erica Smith writes.
One of those arrested, Gabriel Carlyle, 51, took part in the first public defiance of the proscription of Palestine Action, in Parliament Square, central London, on 5 July, when 29 activists were arrested for holding signs that said they supported Palestine Action. Carlyle was not charged with an offence on 5 July, but bailed to reappear at Charing Cross police station on 1 October.
The other Hastings resident arrested on Saturday was Anthony Bradnum.
The two men were arrested with a third person – Emma Sangster from London –standing on York Road near Waterloo station, central London, giving out badges to people on the Gaza March for donations to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Over £21,000 has been raised in this way since November 2023, from a range of badges, including ‘Ceasefire Now’. Some of the badges had the same wording as the placard.
Carlyle, Bradnum and Sangster believed that the wording on the placards and the badges did not breach the recent ban on the nonviolent direct action group Palestine Action.
Gabriel Carlyle told police before his arrest: ‘There have been press articles published in major media, all saying that Palestine Action should not be banned. No action has been taken against them. The UCU college lecturers’ union has put out statements to that effect. So there’s no doubt about the fact that this is legal. If you’re going to arrest me today, you should also be arresting university college union lecturers, people who’ve published articles in the New Statesman, the Guardian, etc. We’ve been very careful about what we have and haven’t put on this badge. It’s not controversial. It’s clear that saying “don’t ban something” is not the same as saying “support it”.’
Carlyle, Bradnum and Sangster were all released from Lewisham police station at around 3am on Sunday 20 July. They have been bailed to reappear there on Monday 13 October. None of them have yet been charged with any offence.
More than 100 people were arrested across the UK on Saturday (19 July) at events related to Palestine Action – the third week of demonstrations since the group was banned as a terrorist organisation. You can read about Gabriel Carlyle’s first arrest on 5 July here.
UCU statement: Stop authoritarian attacks on the Palestine movement
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary are completely wrong to have proscribed Palestine Action, a move which accelerates our slide into authoritarianism.
They know the overwhelming majority of people in this country loathe Israel’s genocide in Gaza and oppose ongoing UK complicity in it, and they know that such mass opposition has fueled the biggest protest movement in British history.
That’s why this Labour government, as Murdoch’s top newspaper put it last week, is misusing the law to quash legitimate dissent — from draconian restrictions on all the mass demonstrations for Palestine, to the trumped-up and drawn-out prosecution of movement leaders Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham, to the cynical redefinition of non-violent direct action as terrorism.
The government’s escalation of its crackdown on the Palestine solidarity movement through the proscription of Palestine Action is a particularly sinister development which should greatly alarm anyone interested in protecting our hard-won rights and freedoms. It should also disturb all those committed to Britain’s future as an open and democratic society.
Rather than safeguarding our democracy as the hard-right rapidly gains ground, Labour in government is working to erode it . . .
Jo Grady, University and College Union general secretary, 9 July 2025
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