Just Stop Oil ‘youth wing’ spray red paint over Ministry of Defense days after attacking Labor HQ

Pro-Palestinian youth protesters have sprayed red paint over the Ministry of Defense just days after they attacked Labor headquarters.

The Youth Demand and Palestine Action groups jointly staged the action today, demanding that both the Conservative and Labor parties commit to a two-way arms embargo on Israel.

In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, several protesters can be seen spraying the red paint over the building’s walls before displaying a banner reading ‘Youth demand an end to genocide’.

The Metropolitan Police said it had made an arrest five people had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and are in custody.

The force said on X: ‘We will never tolerate people causing criminal damage to buildings under the guise of protest.’

In a statement, Youth Demand said: ‘Young people will not accept the future those in charge have in store for us.

‘We will not die quietly while our leaders commit us to a future of suffering and mass death. Young people come together to fight back.’

It is the latest student in the group’s – which describes itself as a ‘youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide’ – ‘week of action’.

Youth Demand is linked to fellow activist group Just Stop Oil, which has been heavily criticized for its call for eco-fanatics to target MPs in their homes as part of protests against new North Sea oil and gas licences.

Youth Demand supporters spray painted the Labor HQ building on Monday.

The group accused the opposition of having ‘blood on their hands’ and being ‘complicit’ in more than 30,000 civilian deaths in Gaza. The campaign also called for an end to fossil fuel drilling in the UK.

Demonstrator Chris Faulkner, a student at the University of Oxford, said: ‘There has never been a safer time for Labor to be brave. Instead, they act like the biggest cowards imaginable.

‘Young people will not stand by and watch Keir Starmer allow mass murder by selling arms to Israel and allowing the development of new oil and gas.

‘Over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza and the collapse of our climate will kill hundreds of millions more in the coming decades.

“As long as the incoming government threatens to continue the genocide, coordinated civil resistance is our only option. Radical changes must come from young people.’

Another protester, Ella Taylor, accused British politicians of being ‘out of control’.

The 19-year-old said: ‘They are complicit in genocide and we cannot wait patiently until the election to speak our mind.

“If we want change, we must take matters into our own hands. Every government, whether Labor or Tory, should be accountable to the people.

‘We do this to hold them accountable. We do this for all the people who can’t. We are taking a stand for our right to a future and for the rights of the Palestinian people to live in freedom and security.’

Coinciding with the protest outside Labor headquarters, around 70 members of Youth Demand marched through central London from Victoria Embankment Gardens to Parliament Square.

The group held banners reading ‘Young people demand an end to genocide’, ‘Labour and Tory: Genocide Enablers’ and ‘Never Again is Now’.

Yesterday the group targeted Sir Keir Starmer’s home by hanging a huge banner reading ‘Starmer – Stop the Killing’ – over the Labor leader’s front hedge and unfurling the Palestinian flag.

The group also placed children’s shoes – representing the deaths of children in Gaza – up the path leading to the front door of the north London property.

The protest was blasted by Rishi Sunak, who condemned the group for demonstrating outside the politician’s home.

“I don’t care what your politics are, no MP should be harassed in their own home,” Mr Sunak said. ‘We cannot and will not tolerate this.’

Home Secretary James Cleverly also hit out at the ‘unacceptable’ protest, saying: ‘There is no excuse for harassing and intimidating politicians and their families in their homes.’

Today it was confirmed that three people had been charged with harassment following a pro-Palestine demonstration outside Starmer’s home.

Scotland Yard said the three were due to appear in court today after being arrested in a north London street last night.

Leonorah Ward, 21, and Daniel Formentin, 24, both from Leeds, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court along with Zosia Lewis, 23, from Newcastle.

They have been charged with harassing a person in their home under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and breaching court bail, a police spokesman said.

Youth Demand said its members joined the protest over Labour’s refusal under Sir Keir to support an arms embargo on Israel.