More than 70 held after Palestine Action protests

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN CRIME CORRESPONDENT

Officers have carried demonstrators into police vans as 42 people were arrested at a protest against Palestine Action being designated as a terrorist group. Groups gathered in central London yesterday for the second week in a row to protest against the decision to ban the direct-action group. A further 16 arrests were made at a protest in Manchester, and 13 at another in Cardiff.

In London, two small groups sat at the steps of the Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela statues shortly after 1pm in Parliament Square for the demonstration, organised by campaign group Defend Our Juries, and received a brief round of applause.