Protesters call for Gaza ceasefire outside UK Labour leader Starmer's office

Demonstrators called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war outside the office of the head of the UK's largest opposition party on Saturday.

The road outside Labour Party leader Keir Starmer's Camden office was blocked, with protesters chanting: "What do we want? A ceasefire. When do we want it? Now."

There were signs reading "Stop the war on Gaza" and Palestinian flags were waved, London's Evening Standard newspaper reported.

Labour has been divided over the Gaza war. Some of the party's MPs have backed calls for a ceasefire amid Israel's indiscriminate military campaign against the strip, while Starmer wants to see "humanitarian pauses".

Ten members of Starmer's front bench team quit or were sacked earlier this week. They defied their party leader to vote in favour of a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.

Israel's war on the besieged enclave has been raging for over a month and has killed 12,000 people – more than 5,000 of them children.

Saturday's protest outside Starmer's office was part of a march that took place in Camden, one of the boroughs of London.

Previously during the march, demonstrators chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".

"The protest in Camden has now concluded without any incidents," London's Metropolitan Police said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The force later added that a 46-year-old man was arrested during the protest under section 4a of the Public Order Act and had been taken to a local police station. No further details were provided.

Pro-Palestinian protests and actions are taking place in other British cities and towns this weekend, including Glasgow in Scotland, Birmingham in England and Abergavenny in Wales.

Note: This story was updated at 20:53 GMT on 18 November 2023 to report that the police said a 46-year-old man had been arrested at during the protest in Camden. The police added the information to their updates thread on social media after this article was first published.