94-year-old Jewish human rights lawyer arrested at UK protest over Palestine Action ban

Margaret Owen, a 94-year-old Jewish former human rights lawyer and friend of Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband's late mother, was arrested at a vigil outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on 27 September 2026, calling for the government to lift its ban on Palestine Action. The arrest highlights tensions between protest rights and the UK government's counter-extremism measures, and carries symbolic weight given Owen's age, faith, and personal connection to a senior minister. The incident underscores the political sensitivity of the Palestine Action proscription and its enforcement.