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Seven arrested at Scottish pro-Palestinian demos

PA Media Glasgow protestPA Media
Thousands protested peacefully in Glasgow, the largest of Scotland's six pro-Palestinian events

Seven people were arrested at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Scotland on Armistice Day.

Police Scotland said five men and two women were arrested in separate incidents in Glasgow city centre.

Largely peaceful pro-Palestinian marches took place in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Forres and Dumfries.

Several hundred demonstrators protested outside the main branch of Marks and Spencer in Argyle Street.

Meanwhile, British Transport Police said officers made one arrest in Glasgow as part of a "proactive policing operation".

Protest outside Marks and Spencer
A group of pro-Palestinian marchers protested outside Marks and Spencer in Glasgow

The bulk of Saturday's trouble took place in London, where police said 300,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched to call for a Gaza ceasefire.

The marches were timed to start after the morning's Armistice Day ceremonies.

Counter-protesters made up the "vast majority" of 126 arrests made, a Metropolitan Police statement said, while nine officers were injured.

The Met also condemned "extreme violence" by right-wing activists.

First Minister Humza Yousaf called for the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, to resign after after the clashes in London.

Ms Braverman wrote in The Times last week that aggressive right-wing protesters were "rightly met with a stern response", while "pro-Palestinian mobs" were "largely ignored".

Mr Yousaf accused her of "fanning the flames of division" and said her position was now "untenable".

'Speaking for a great many people'

But speaking on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser defended Ms Braverman.

Mr Fraser said she was "speaking for a great many people" when she questioned the tactics used by the Metropolitan Police.

He said some of the home secretary's actions had "not been particularly helpful" and that she should have had private discussions with the police.

But he added that "in raising concerns about policing standards in the Metropolitan Police she's speaking for a great many people."

Mr Fraser said that he was "appalled" both by attacks on the police by right-wing counter-protesters at the Cenotaph and incidents of anti-Semitism he said were evident in London yesterday.

He added it was for the prime minister to decide whether or not to keep Ms Braverman in his cabinet.