The activists imprisoned statues of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and the Suffragist Millicent Fawcett. Greenpeace said that despite being celebrated as heroes at the heart of Westminster, they could “fall foul of the UK government’s anti-protest laws and be branded as criminals if they were still protesting today”. Both Gandhi and Mandela were, famously, imprisoned.

It comes as analysis by Greenpeace shows that of all the arrests made under the Terrorism Act since it came into force 24 years ago, almost half of them (2,100 out of 4,322) occurred in the last four months, and targeted people holding signs at silent vigils against the proscription of Palestine Action. The Greenpeace analysis also showed that the Crown Prosecution Service has charged more people (144) with terror-related offences in just two months of 2025 than in any entire year since 2001, including the years of the 7/7 bombings and the Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester Arena attacks.

Areeba Hamid, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “If these people were protesting today, this government would not hesitate to arrest them. We’ve put Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Millicent Fawcett behind bars to remind people of everything protest has given us – freedom, equality and democracy. But this government wants you to see protesters as terrorists. In the last few months thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested under the Terrorism Act, right here in front of these heroes. Meanwhile, on the other side of the square, Parliament is debating even more draconian laws to remove more of our rights. This should worry us all, the right to protest and make our voice heard is what makes a democracy, and it’s being taken away.”

Building on anti-protest laws brought in by the last government, the Labour government is attempting to introduce even more powers in the Crime and Policing Bill. These would enable police to ban protests near churches and religious buildings – essentially powers to restrict protest in any urban area – and to ban face coverings at protests, even for religious or health reasons. The Crime and Policing Bill is currently making its way through the House of Lords, with committee stage beginning 10 November.

Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, said: “From Emily Davison to Rosa Parks, history shows that society often only recognises its heroes in the rear-view mirror. By crushing what little right to protest remains, this government isn’t keeping order, it’s silencing tomorrow’s heroes before they can even speak. The right to protest is how ordinary people hold the powerful to account, expose injustice, and demand a better world. Strip that away, and you strip away democracy itself. We have to stand together and resist this slide into authoritarianism, because once protest is gone, power answers to no one.”