25/07/2025
News from the Merseyside Pensioners Association
Date: 23/07/2025
The Merseyside Pensioners Association (MPA) strongly condemns the proscription of Palestine Action as an outrageous and authoritarian attack on the right to protest and oppose genocide. This move represents a dangerous erosion of civil liberties and reflects a government that supports an apartheid, terrorist state. It is not protestors, but the state, that is committing acts of terrorism.
Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, the UK government has launched a disturbing assault on free speech and peaceful protest. By branding anti-genocide campaigners as “terrorists,” it has placed the UK on the wrong side of international law and morality.
The MPA is proud of its long-standing commitment to justice and peace, both at home and abroad. We are alarmed by the increasing criminalisation of peaceful protestors, and we are particularly concerned that pensioners are being targeted as “soft” or easy victims by law enforcement.
Police Arrests at Liverpool March
At Liverpool’s weekly march last Sunday—held in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in protest against Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza—four people were arrested. Three of them were pensioners.
Among those arrested was MPA Secretary Audrey White, along with her brother Mark Holt, a long-time Palestine activist and former Gaza Freedom Flotilla crew member. Video footage shows Audrey being violently handled by police during her arrest. She is currently receiving medical treatment for the after-effects and is effectively under house arrest due to bail conditions that prevent her from entering the area where she actually lives.
Audrey said:
“I’m very sore, very shaken, very emotional—and I’m frightened, to be honest. I’m just an ordinary woman with a family, with health issues, who loves a holiday. But I feel strongly that these laws are now being used to target individuals and organisations. They go against civil liberties and are restricting the freedom of speech we were once proud of.”
She continued:
“I was dragged half-naked into a police van. I’m in pain, I feel terrible. I’m sore all over and swollen in places. One of the worst things is my head—it feels like it’s blowing off. But I want to encourage others to stand peacefully in solidarity with people who oppose genocide. The police had no reason to treat me—or any of us—that way. We should not be arrested for holding a piece of paper. People who are peaceful should not be labelled as terrorists—me included.”
Our Stand
The MPA believes that an injury to one is an injury to all. We stand in full solidarity with all those arrested under this draconian legislation.
We will continue to support those affected by this authoritarian crackdown on free speech and peaceful protest. To this end, we are establishing a solidarity fund (details to follow) to assist individuals on Merseyside who have been arrested in connection with these protests.
How to Support:
Messages of solidarity can be sent to: admin@merseysidepensionersassociation.co.uk
Media enquiries: Contact Phil Maxwell, MPA Media Officer (maxwellphotouk@yahoo.co.uk)
