UK to Introduce Limits on Protests After Synagogue Attack

Police take a protestor into custody in London on Oct. 4.

Photographer: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will give police new powers to place limits on repeated protests and is considering legislation to ban them outright, after weeks of demonstrations led to mass arrests and strained resources.

The move comes a day after police arrested nearly 500 people in the latest protest in Trafalgar Square in support of the proscribed group, Palestine Action. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had earlier called on organizers to cancel Saturday’s event in the wake of last week’s attack on a Manchester synagogue, which took place on Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

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