Jeremy Corbyn agreed to be interviewed by police (Image: PA)
Left-wing politicians and John McDonnell will be interviewed by police under caution following a chaotic pro-Palestine protest.
The former Labour leader, 75, and former shadow chancellor, 73, will attend a police station voluntarily after officers accused demonstrators of breaching protest conditions.
Stop the War Coalition founder Christopher Nineham was among ten people charged by police following the pro-Palestine rally in central London on Saturday.
after protesters broke through a police line.
Jeremy Corbyn spoke at a pro-Palestine rally (Image: Getty)
Saturday’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest was adjusted to be a static rally after police curtailed organisers’ plans for a march past the and near a synagogue, and conditions were put in place that prevented people involved from entering specific areas.
Mr Nineham was charged with a public order offence.
Piers Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn’s brother, was also charged with a public order offence.
Both are among ten people who will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court over the coming days.
The force said on Sunday that 24 people have been bailed and 48 remain in custody.
Commander Adam Slonecki said: “Yesterday we saw a deliberate effort, including by protest organisers, to breach conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall.
“This was a serious escalation in criminality and one which we are taking incredibly seriously. Officers have worked around the clock to pursue those involved.”
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism described Saturday’s scenes as “a dark day for London”, adding: “For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call yesterday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation.
“Police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘£WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.”
Before Saturday, the Met denied putting a “ring of steel” around Broadcasting House in Portland Place, but blocked protesters from gathering there because of its close proximity to a synagogue and the risk the demonstration could cause “serious disruption” to the Jewish holy day, as people attended Shabbat services.
The protest was adjusted to be a static rally in Whitehall instead.
But Stop the War Coalition national officer John Rees told around 35 supporters gathered outside Walworth police station in south-east London: “This is a first rank all-out assault on the right to free assembly, of the right to free speech.
“It is unprecedented in modern times in British history. It is unprecedented for the police to arrest a senior officer of a major protest organisation in this country, and to combine that with a sweep of hundreds of actors who have been taken into custody, and some of them already charged with similar offences.
“It is, in short, a state attempt to close down protests on the question of Palestine.”
In a post on X, on Saturday, the Met posted a photo of what it described as a group “that forced its way through the police line” being held at the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square.
In response, Corbyn said in a separate X post: “This is not an accurate description of events at all”.
“I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.”
“This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.”
McDonnell echoed Corbyn’s comments in his post on X, saying: “We did not force our way thru, the police allowed us to go thru & when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down & dispersed.”