Corbyn and McDonnell face police interview after pro-Palestinian rally
ReutersMPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London on Saturday, the BBC understands.
The 75-year-old former Labor leader and the 73-year-old former shadow chancellor will voluntarily attend a police station in the capital as the Met investigates organizers’ coordinated actions to breach the event’s rules.
Police said they would be interviewed Sunday afternoon.
Ten more people have been charged with public order offenses after being arrested at a protest organized by the Palestinian Solidarity Movement (PSC).
Police said 24 people had been released on bail and 48 remained in custody.
The 10 people charged will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the coming days, the Met said in a statement.
The statement added that three men had agreed to voluntarily go to a central London police station for questioning under a criminal warning. “The men who will be interviewed by police this afternoon are a 75-year-old, a 73-year-old and a 61-year-old man respectively.”
The protests came as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, hostage release agreement.
A static rally involving thousands of people was held in Whitehall after police blocked plans for a march from Portland Place near the BBC headquarters.
Police said a group of protesters tried to march from the rally but were stopped a short distance away after breaking through cordons and gathering in Trafalgar Square.
in a Post on X On Saturday, the Metropolitan Museum of Art released a photo of what it said was a group of people “forced their way through police cordons” and were being held in the northwest corner of Trafalgar Square.
Corbyn responded in a separate statement: separate post: “This is not at all an accurate account of events.”
“I am part of a speaking delegation that wishes to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of the murdered children of Gaza.”
“It was police-facilitated. We didn’t force the passage.”
McDonald responded to Corbyn’s comments in his speech Post your own post on Xsaid: “We did not force passage, the police allowed us to pass and when we stopped in Trafalgar Square we put down the flowers and dispersed.”
Corbyn now serves as the independent MP for Islington North. Hayes and Harrington MP McDonald is currently an independent after Labor suspended his whip for six months in July 2024 for voting against the government on child welfare rules.
