Pro-Palestine youth protesters have sprayed red paint over the Ministry of Defence just days after they targeted Labour HQ.
The groups Youth Demand and Palestine Action jointly carried out the action today demanding that both the Conservative and Labour parties commit to imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, several demonstrators can be seen spraying the red paint over the walls of the building before displaying a banner reading ‘Youth demand an end to genocide’.
The Metropolitan Police said that it had arrested five people had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and are in custody.
The force said on X: ‘We will never tolerate people causing criminal damage to buildings under the guise of protest.’
Pro-Palestine youth protesters have sprayed red paint over the Ministry of Defence just days after they targeted Labour HQ
Police officers at the Ministry of Defence in London, after members of Youth Demand threw red paint over the outside of the building.
The groups Youth Demand and Palestine Action jointly carried out the action today demanding that both the Conservative and Labour parties commit to imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel
In a statement, Youth Demand said: ‘Young people will not accept the future those in charge have in store for us.
‘We will not die quietly whilst our leaders commit us to a future of suffering and mass death. Young people are coming together to fight back.’
It is the latest student in the group’s – which describes itself as a ‘youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide’ – ‘week of action’.
Youth Demand are linked to fellow activist group Just Stop Oil, who have been heavily criticised over their call for eco-zealots to target MPs in their homes as part of protests against new North Sea oil and gas licences.
On Monday supporters of Youth Demand daubed Labour HQ building with paint.
The group accused the opposition of having ‘blood on their hands’ and being ‘complicit’ in the deaths of more than 30,000 civilians in Gaza, the campaigners also demanded an end to fossil fuel drilling in Britain.
Demonstrator Chris Faulkner, a University of Oxford student, said: ‘There has never been a safer time for Labour to be bold. Instead, they are behaving like the biggest cowards imaginable.
‘Young people will not stand by and watch Keir Starmer allow mass murder by selling weapons to Israel and allowing the development of new oil and gas.
Police officers carry one Youth Demand supporter out of the lobby of the building during the protest
A group of protesters hold hands as they sit on the floor outside the building in south London
One pro-Palestine supporter is moved by police officers who were called to deal with the protest on Monday
‘Over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza and the breakdown of our climate will kill hundreds of millions more in the coming decades.
‘As long as the upcoming government is threatening to continue genocide, coordinated civil resistance is our only option. Radical change has to come from young people.’
Another protester, Ella Taylor, accused British politicians of being ‘out of control’.
The 19-year-old said: ‘They are complicit in genocide and we cannot wait patiently till the election to have our say.
‘If we want change we must take matters into our own hands. Any government, whether Labour or Tory, should answer to the people.
‘We are doing this to hold them to account. We are doing this for all the people who can’t. We are taking a stand for our right to a future and for the rights of the Palestinian people to live in freedom and safety.’
At the same time as the protest outside the Labour headquarters, around 70 members of Youth Demand marched through central London from Victoria Embankment gardens to Parliament Square.
The group held banners which read ‘Youth Demand an End to Genocide’, ‘Labour and Tory: Genocide Enablers and ‘Never Again is Now’.
Yesterday, the group targeted Sir Keir Starmer’s home hanging a huge banner which read ‘Starmer – Stop the Killing’ – over the Labour leader’s front hedge and unfurled the Palestinian flag.
The group placed children’s shoes – representing the deaths of children in Gaza – up the pathway leading to the front door of Sir Keir’s home
The group also placed children’s shoes – representing the deaths of children in Gaza, – up the pathway leading to the front door of the north London property.
The protest was blasted by Rishi Sunak who condemned the group for demonstrating outside the politician’s home.
‘I don’t care what your politics are, no MP should be harassed at their own home,’ Mr Sunak said. ‘We cannot and will not tolerate this.’
Home Secretary James Cleverly also slammed the ‘unacceptable’ protest, saying: ‘There is no excuse for harassing and intimidating politicians and their families in their homes.’
Today it was confirmed that three people had been charged with harassment following a pro-Palestine demonstration outside Starmer’s home.
Scotland Yard said the three were due to appear in court today after being arrested in a north London street last night.
Leonorah Ward, 21, and Daniel Formentin, 24, both from Leeds, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court alongside Zosia Lewis, 23, from Newcastle.
They have been charged with harassing a person in their home under Section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, and for breaching court bail, a police spokesman said.
Youth Demand said its members took part in the protest over Labour’s refusal under Sir Keir to back an arms embargo on Israel.
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