Hundreds of people gathered outside HMP Pentonville in London on New Year’s Eve as the long-running anarchist demonstration was joined by a solidarity protest in support of remand prisoners currently on hunger strike.
The protest on 31 December 2025 was organized by Palestine Pulse alongside other grassroots groups and focused on prisoners being held without conviction for alleged offences linked to Palestine Action. Demonstrators assembled on Caledonian Road carrying Palestinian flags and banners, with organizers stressing that the action was intended as a show of solidarity rather than disruption.
Despite this, protesters said police responded with a large deployment. Those attending counted at least 21 police vans in the immediate area, equating to an estimated 170 officers. Many were wearing boiler suits and carrying long batons, which protesters said indicated a readiness for confrontation rather than facilitation.
Passing motorists repeatedly sounded their horns in apparent support of the demonstration. Officers initially attempted to confine protesters behind railings on a narrow stretch of pavement, but this became untenable as numbers grew.
Demonstrators moved onto the road and began a spontaneous march around the prison block, entering Wheelwright Street.
Police reinforcements arrived shortly afterwards, with officers blocking surrounding streets and fragmenting movement. The march was halted and pushed back towards Caledonian Road, and further attempts to move south were stopped by additional cordons, leaving protesters penned in on the carriageway.
The policing approach led to rising tensions, with organisers reporting minor injuries and two arrests. Both individuals were said to have been released in the early hours of 1 January. After the standoff, demonstrators regrouped and moved away from the prison under continued police pressure, later travelling through central London before dispersing at Piccadilly Circus.
At the centre of the protest is a coordinated hunger strike involving eight remand prisoners held in several UK prisons, including HMP Pentonville, HMP Bronzefield, HMP New Hall and HMP Peterborough. All are being held without conviction. Supporters say several prisoners are approaching 60 days without food, while two others previously paused their hunger strike after severe health deterioration following more than seven weeks.
The hunger strikers are demanding the closure of UK sites operated by Elbit Systems and an end to prolonged pre-trial detention. Families, doctors and supporters have repeatedly warned of escalating health risks, with hospitalisations reported and concerns raised about the possibility of irreversible damage.
Recent demonstrations outside Pentonville have focused on one hunger striker, Kamran, one of the so-called Filton 24 arrestees, who has reportedly been hospitalised for a fifth time after more than 50 days on hunger strike. Similar New Year’s Eve protests were also planned outside prisons in Brixton and Peterborough.
Since the proscription of Palestine Action earlier in 2025, campaigners say the British state has increasingly relied on remand detention, isolation and restrictive custodial regimes. Supporters describe a pattern including censorship of books and correspondence, denial of prison work, transfers far from family networks and repeated refusals of bail.
Activists argue that the policing of demonstrations and the treatment of remand prisoners are closely linked, describing them as part of a broader approach aimed at deterring political protest.
In this context, the hunger strike has become a focal point, with supporters saying it exposes how prisons and public order policing are being used to suppress dissent and discipline political resistance in the UK.
