Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters are heading for Westminster to take part in a rally aimed at pressuring MPs to back a ceasefire in Gaza.
Dozens of police officers are already lining up outside Parliament in a ring of steel after Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle advised MPs to take urgent precautions when meeting their own constituents, as threats ramp up.
The demonstration comes just days after another protest in central London attended by more than 200,000 people, with police making a total of 12 arrests for various public order offences.
The event is organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Students today occupied the Stewart Hall Building at Goldsmiths University, which they accuse of “complicity”.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, City of Westminster Police tweeted: “We’ve put in a condition which means protesters must remain in the area highlighted in the map unless told otherwise by an officer.
“This is to minimise disruption to people and traffic in the Westminster area while also facilitating the right to protest.
“The safety of everyone attending and people in the area is our priority.”
Inside Parliament, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is facing a difficult day as MPs debate the ceasefire calls, more than four months after the October 7 terror attacks on Israel.
The party had hoped to avoid another rebellion over the Israel-Hamas war by tabling an amendment to an SNP motion demanding an immediate ceasefire in the region.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party yesterday shifted its stance to back a call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, acknowledging MPs who were unhappy with the leadership’s previous handling of the issue a wording to rally behind.
However, the Government has put down its own amendment to the nationalists’ proposal, raising the possibility that the Commons Speaker will not choose Labour’s amendment for a debate.
If that happens, it would leave Labour MPs with the choice between voting for the Government’s position, which does not go as far as calling for an immediate ceasefire, backing the SNP’s stance, or abstaining altogether.
Labour has refused to say how it would vote if its amendment was not selected, and insists that its proposal is the only one capable of receiving backing from the whole House of Commons.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow development minister, told Sky News on Wednesday morning that failing to back her party’s motion on a ceasefire in Gaza would mean “we will have missed an opportunity to put forward a serious proposal that allies Britain with our international allies and enables us all to speak with one voice at this critical moment”.
