Prior to Saturday’s march, Corbyn, McDonnell and 29 MPs signed a parliamentary motion urging police to drop restrictions it.
Demonstrators were barred from entering an area covering the BBC’s New Broadcasting House and the nearby Central Synagogue. They were restricted to demonstrate in Whitehall, near Parliament in Westminster.
Police said that the conditions were imposed after “taking into account the cumulative impact of the prolonged period of protest on Jewish Londoners, particularly when protests are in the vicinity of synagogues often on Saturdays, the Jewish holy day.”
Corbyn was questioned alongside his former shadow chancellor John McDonnell in relation to a probe into breaches of the protest conditions (Picture: Getty)Getty Images
Commander Adam Slonecki, who led the policing operation said that on Saturday “we saw a deliberate effort, including by protest organisers, to breach conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall.”
He added: “This was a serious escalation in criminality and one which we are taking incredibly seriously. Officers have worked around the clock to pursue those involved.”
A total of 77 people were arrested on the demonstration which saw signs comparing Israel’s war in Gaza with the Holocaust and the BBC of being controlled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “infested” by “Zionists”.
Prior to the protest, organisers had said they would defy the police restrictions, even under threat of dispersal or arrest.
Nine people have since been charged with public order offences, including the march’s chief steward Chris Nineham and Corbyn’s bother Piers.
On social media, both Corbyn and McDonnell disputed the Met Police’s account of events.
“I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed. This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through”, Corbyn posted on X.
McDonnell added: “I spoke at [the] demo & was part of a procession of speakers aiming to go to [the] BBC to lay flowers commemorating the death of Palestinian children. We did not force our way thru (sic), the police allowed us to go thru (sic) & when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down & dispersed”.
Jeremy Corbyn was elected as an independent MP for Islington North after he was barred from standing for his former party at the last general election.
John McDonnell, who served as Corbyn’s shadow chancellor when he was leader of the opposition, had the Labour whip suspended shortly after the general election because he voted against the government on a key policy issue.
The Labour Party has been contacted for comment about whether John McDonnell could face sanctions from his party.
However, one Labour source told the JC that “It would be inappropriate for the party to comment on a live police investigation” and that "John McDonnell does not have the Labour whip".
