Police have been granted new powers to impose conditions on repeat protests to “close a gap in the law”, the home secretary has said.

Shabana Mahmood told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the changes, announced earlier in the day, would allow communities to “go about their daily business without feeling intimidated”.

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It follows the arrests of nearly 500 people during demonstrations in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action in central London on Saturday.

Protesters defied calls to rethink the event in the wake of the Manchester synagogue terror attack on Thursday, in which two Jewish worshippers were killed.

The new powers will allow police forces to consider the “cumulative impact” of protests, assessing previous activity, when deciding to impose limits on protesters.

The limits that could be imposed include moving demonstrators to a different place or “restricting the time that those protests can occur”, Ms Mahmood said.

She added: “It’s been clear to me in conversations in the last couple of days that there is a gap in the law and there is an inconsistency of practice.

“So I’ll be taking measures immediately to put that right and I will be reviewing our wider protest legislation as well, to make sure the arrangements we have can meet the scale of the challenge that we face.”

The changes will be made through amendments to the Public Order Act, and anyone who breaches the new conditions will risk arrest and prosecution.

‘More flexibility to prevent disruptive protests’

The home secretary has written to chief constables in England and Wales to explain the new powers.

She wrote: “The government will bring forward legislation to increase the powers available to you to tackle the repeated disruptive protests we have seen and continue to provide the reassurance to communities that they need.

“Through upcoming legislation, we will amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to allow senior officers to consider the cumulative impact of protests on local communities when they are imposing conditions on public processions and assemblies.

“This will allow you more flexibility to prevent disruptive protests from attending the same location and instruct organisers to move to a different site.”

The Greens and the Lib Dems said it was an attack on the right to protest.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski told Sky News: “Giving police sweeping powers to shut down protests because of their ‘cumulative impact’ is a cynical assault on the right to dissent. The whole point of protest is persistence; that’s how change happens. Do you think the suffragettes protested once and then gave up?”

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said this will “do nothing” to tackle antisemitism “while undermining the fundamental right to peaceful protest”.

Earlier, Ms Mahmood said the right to protest was a “fundamental freedom” but this must be balanced “with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear”.

In a statement she said: “Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes. 

“This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on many occasions in these recent difficult days.

“These changes mark an important step in ensuring we protect the right to protest while ensuring all feel safe in this country.”

Tories ‘will support’ measures

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her party will “of course support” the new measures but asked why it took “so long” for them to be introduced.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she claimed that what happened in Manchester was foreseeable and not enough has been done to address fears over safety in the Jewish community.

Ms Mahmood addressed the Jewish communities’ concerns after being shown a clip of deputy prime minister David Lammy being heckled at a vigil on Friday.

She told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips the government “of course” hears their strength of feeling and is “committed to dealing with antisemitism in all of its forms”, pointing to the “strengthening” of police powers announced today.

Asked if the reaction to Mr Lammy reflected anger at the government’s decision to recognise a Palestine state, she said it was important not to “elide” Thursday’s attack with the situation in the Middle East.

“People are entitled to their views and of course we were there to hear those views. What I would say is that the attack that took place, the person that’s responsible for that attack is the attacker himself,” she said.

“And, of course, four other people are in custody and the police investigation does need to take its course. It’s important that we don’t elide that into the wider questions of what’s going on in the Middle East.”

A man who helped barricade the Manchester synagogue has described how the terror attack unfolded.

Alan Levy said he was in the car park in the grounds of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall when the incident started and he saw the attacker, who he called a “jihadist monster”.

“I was there when he crashed his car into the synagogue gates and ran down the security guard that was there and attacked a volunteer security guard and tried to gain access into the synagogue,” Mr Levy said in an interview with Sky News’ people and politics correspondent Nick Martin.

It was then that Mr Levy ran into the synagogue and sought to lock it down.

He and other congregants helped barricade the doors to stop the attacker from getting inside, as “he was shoulder-charging the doors trying to get in”.

“He was throwing plant pots at the glass. He was using a knife to try and get in. These brave men basically saved the community from further harm,” Mr Levy said.

“All I was thinking was ‘we’ve got to keep these doors closed’.

“He was trying each door in turn. When we realised which door he was going to, we moved doors so there was more pressure on the doors to keep them closed.”

Two people were killed in the attack on Thursday, including one who died from a police bullet fired as officers shot dead the perpetrator, Jihad al Shamie.

The victims were named as Adrian Daulby, 53, a member of the congregation, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, a worshipper at the synagogue.

What we know about the synagogue attack in Manchester

Mr Levy’s son, Marc, described the moment he first received news of the attack and said “it’s impossible to articulate the worry and concern” as he didn’t know whether his family was safe or not.

“I first knew that there was an incident when my phone started lighting up repeatedly and I realised that there was an attack on my synagogue,” he said.

“It’s a place where all my childhood memories of worshipping… pretty much going there throughout my whole life.

“I knew at that time that my father would have been on security at that time, as he is every morning, given that him and his friends are some of the first people who arrive.”

He said it was only when he saw his father on Sky News’ live feed that he realised he wasn’t one of the victims.

Six people were arrested over the attack but two have been released without charge.

Police revealed the attacker had been on bail over a suspected rape, but wasn’t on the radar of counter-terror police.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the shooting – this is standard practice when a member of the public is killed – and will examine “whether police may have caused or contributed to the death” of Mr Daulby.

Al Shamie, 35, was named as the attacker on Thursday and is believed to be of Syrian descent.

He is understood to have been granted British citizenship when he was around 16, having entered the UK as a young child.

Police shot him dead seven minutes after the first emergency call as they feared he was wearing an explosive device – later identified as a fake.

Nearly 500 people have been arrested over protests supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action, as demonstrators defied calls to reconsider in the wake of the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

Two days after the attack in Crumpsall, crowds of people gathered in central London on Saturday to call on the government to reverse the ban on the proscribed group.

Organisers of the protest, Defend Our Juries, said 1,000 people attended the event to “oppose genocide and the Palestine Action ban”.

The Metropolitan Police said 492 people had been arrested, with the youngest being 18 and the eldest 89. The force said 297 remain in custody and the rest have been bailed.

Before the demonstration even began, six people were arrested for unfurling banners which read “I oppose genocide” and “I support Palestine Action” on Westminster Bridge.

The bulk of the arrests were made in Trafalgar Square, where protesters held placards showing their support for Palestine Action, which was added to the UK’s list of proscribed terrorist groups in July.

The Met said a different group of protesters also gathered in Whitehall before trying to make their way to Trafalgar Square.

Many of those arrested throughout the day were older individuals. Pictures showed people with walking sticks or in wheelchairs being supported by police, while others were physically carried to a processing pen after failing to cooperate with officers.

One protester, 62-year-old Mike Higgins, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, told the PA news agency: “We are going to win this battle, by the way, there’s no doubt about that. The problem for me is that I want to win it now to try and bring an end to the suffering in Palestine.”

The Metropolitan Police had urged the Defend Our Juries group to postpone the event in light of the synagogue attack.

Chief of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, said he was worried resources would be stretched and the ability of the force to protect communities would be compromised as a result of the protest.

In a statement on X on Saturday morning, Sir Keir Starmer also said anyone thinking of protesting should “recognise and respect the grief of British Jews”, while Jewish figures called the action “phenomenally tone deaf”.

In a letter to Ade Adelekan, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Defend Our Juries said the protest would continue as planned as “the protection of our democracy and the prevention of countless deaths are critical issues”.

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The controversial decision drew criticism from policing minister Sarah Jones, who said many of those attending the event “want to be arrested, that is their aim”.

She said: “We believe in people’s rights to protest. This protest here in London is a different order of event because people are supporting a proscribed organisation and the police have to step in, in that case.”

A similar event held by the group, Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, took place earlier on Saturday in Manchester. Instead of marching in support of Palestine Action, the event was to “honour the names of Palestinian children brutally killed by Israel in Gaza”.

A crowd of around 100 pro-Palestinian supporters gathered outside the city’s Cathedral to listen to speakers before moving en masse to St Peter’s Square.

People were heard chanting “Free Palestine!” while a small group of counter-protesters marched in front shouting “release the hostages”.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) did not say if any arrests were made.

Away from the protests, GMP said four of the six people arrested in connection to the synagogue terror attack will remain in custody for up to another five days.

The force said the custody extension applies to two men, aged 30 and 32, and two women, aged 61 and 46.

An 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man have been released and will face no further action.

GMP said all six people had been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.