Three charged after Pro-Palestine protest outside Sir Keir Starmer’s home | Politics News
Three people have been charged with public order offences following a pro-Palestine protest outside Sir Keir Starmer’s family home.
Leonorah Ward, 21, from Leeds, Zosia Lewis, 23, of Newcastle upon Tyne and Daniel Formentin, 24, of Leeds, will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court today.
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They have been charged with section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and for breaching court bail, the Metropolitan Police said.
A statement from the Met said: “The arrests were made on Tuesday 9 April under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
“This power stops the harassment of a person at their home address if an officer suspects it is causing alarm or distress to the occupant.”
What happened at protest?
A group of campaigners arrived at the Labour leader’s house in north London on Tuesday to call on him to support an arms embargo on Israel.
A banner was hung outside his house that apparently read: “Starmer stop the killing”, surrounded by red hand prints.
The protest was condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said that “no MP should be harassed at their own home”.
Home Secretary James Cleverly also said that the protest was “unacceptable”, posting on X that “there is no excuse for harassing and intimidating politicians and their families in their homes”.
Mr Sunak’s home in north Yorkshire was targeted last year by climate protesters.
There are fears the tactic will be increasingly used ahead of the general election, expected later this year.
Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood, whose home was targeted by pro-Palestine protesters earlier this year, has suggested new laws could be introduced to protect politicians in the same way legislation is being brought forward to ban people from climbing on statues.
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Row over legal advice and arms sales continues
The government has faced increasing pressure to suspend arms export licences to Israel after seven aid workers, including three British nationals, were killed by an Israeli airstrike last week.
Many MPs have also called on ministers to publish legal advice it has received on whether Israel is violating international law in Gaza, where over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, which killed around 1,200 people in Israel.
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Sir Keir has reiterated calls for the government to publish the advice, with the party’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy stating arms sales should be halted if there has been a “serious breach” of international law.
