Six people were in custody on Sunday as Metropolitan Police investigators investigated a plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange, authorities said.
Police said the arrests were made in Brighton, Liverpool and London.
In a statement, the UK's Metropolitan Police said the allegations were that activists from the Palestinian Action Group intended to target the London Stock Exchange on Monday, “causing damage and 'locking down' the building in an attempt to prevent the building from opening for trading.”
A representative from the London Stock Exchange said he had no comment but pointed out that trading does not take place on the London Stock Exchange itself. Stock trading is entirely electronic, and there has been no physical trading floor since 1986.
A representative for Palestine Action said in an email: “The London Stock Exchange raises billions of pounds for Israeli apartheid and trades in shares of arms manufacturers that arm Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. While Britain remains complicit in the brutal colonization of Palestine, our direct action campaign She will not be deterred.
Police said the arrests took place earlier on Sunday. The Metropolitan Police added that it was liaising with the City of London Police and other UK forces after a suggestion that this was part of a week of work planned to “ensure appropriate resources are available to deal with any disturbance”.
