Six are arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to prevent the opening of the London Stock Exchange – 01/14/2024 – Market

Police presence will be intensified in the City of London this Monday (15) after the British capital’s Metropolitan Police arrested six pro-Palestinian activists suspected of plotting to prevent the opening of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The six activists were “intending to attack the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning causing damage and ‘locking themselves in’ in an effort to prevent the building from opening,” the Met said in a statement.

The conspiracy involved similar tactics to those used by environmental activists such as Just Stop Oil, who attach themselves to buildings and make arrests difficult for police, the Met added.

There is no face-to-face trading at LSE headquarters, so it is unlikely that financial market movements would be affected by the action. The Exchange declined to comment.

A 31-year-old man was arrested in Liverpool on suspicion of conspiracy to cause property damage, and five other people, all suspected of being part of the same conspiracy, were later arrested in Liverpool, London and Brighton.

“These are significant arrests. We believe this group was ready to carry out a disturbing and damaging action that could have serious implications if successful,” said Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas of the Met, the UK’s largest police force.

Palestine Action has a history of using direct action to disrupt multinational arms companies, and in recent years has targeted companies that supply military materials used in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Met said it received information about the protests planned for Monday (15) at the Stock Exchange from the Daily Express newspaper.

Reports suggested the group hoped to prevent workers from entering the building. However, police are “quite confident” that Sunday’s arrests have prevented any disruption, and City of London police will also deploy personnel to the region on Monday.

The protest planned for Monday would be the start of a “week of action” by Palestine Action, about which police said they were still gathering information.

“We are liaising with the City of London Police, as well as other forces across the UK, to ensure adequate resources are in place to deal with any disruption over the coming days,” a Met spokesperson said.

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday (13), in the latest in a series of demonstrations calling for an end to Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians since October 7.