94-Year-Old Barrister Detained Over Palestine Action Support in Liverpool
Margaret Owen, a 94-year-old Jewish human rights barrister, was detained in Liverpool during a rally outside the UK Labour Party conference for expressing support for Palestine Action.
The detention was reported on Oct. 1, 2026. Owen received an OBE, a British state honour, in 2013 for her work for women's human rights, especially widows, according to Al Jazeera. She has been described as Britain's oldest alleged terrorist after the arrest, in reporting by the Morning Star.
Merseyside Police said 82 people were arrested at the Liverpool protest on suspicion of wearing or carrying an item supporting a banned (or proscribed) organisation. All have since been released on bail while cases are considered. The charge is the standard support offence under UK terrorism law, applied here to public statements of backing for Palestine Action.
The Liverpool rally was one of a coordinated series organised by Defend Our Juries, a UK-based activist group calling for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted. Owen had attended about a dozen protests in London wearing a sign reading "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action". She told Al Jazeera she had written to the Metropolitan Police with photos, stating her support for Palestine Action.
Palestine Action was banned under the Terrorism Act in July 2025. The group was founded in 2020 and targets weapons manufacturers including Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms company. The UK government named Palestine Action alongside Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement as three groups set to be banned, and said the decision followed advice from cross-government experts, according to the UK Government.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it will prosecute a further 24 people for showing support for the banned group, according to the CPS. That announcement was dated Sept. 5, 2025, before the Liverpool arrests.
The broader context here is the use of a terrorism-listing power against a direct-action network focused on the arms trade. Proscription was designed for terrorist organisations. Its extension to Palestine Action puts police, prosecutors and courts in the position of policing slogans, placards and clothing at public demonstrations. The result is volume. Dozens of arrests at one rally create heavy administrative work, and each case tests what counts as support in court.
Looking at what this means for British politics and law enforcement, three pressures stand out. The first is location. An arrest outside a governing party's conference brings national attention and forces ministers to answer questions about enforcement on camera. The second is profile. A 94-year-old barrister with an OBE and a long human rights record creates problems for any public communications plan, whatever the legal merits. The third is persistence. Defend Our Juries has built its campaign around repeated, open admissions of support. Owen's letter to the Metropolitan Police fits that tactic. It shifts the police task from finding supporters to processing them.
What comes next turns on procedure. Bail conditions will affect whether defendants can return to similar rallies. Charging decisions will show how prosecutors choose cases from mass arrests. Court rulings will shape whether this wave stops further demonstrations or brings new challenges to the ban itself. The facts so far show organised defiance met by systematic enforcement. The legal outcome is still to be decided.
