Protesters spray red paint on Ministry of Defence

Five people have arrested after pro-Palestinian protesters sprayed red paint on the walls of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in central London.

Youth Demand and Palestine Action, who staged a protest outside Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's home on Tuesday, said they were behind the action.

They would no longer accept the UK helping to arm Israel, the groups said.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the Armed Forces "can't and won't be intimidated".

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said those inside the MoD "stand up to dictators & terrorists every day - patriots, many of whom put their lives at risk to protect us all".

He described the protesters as "the opposite, cowardly criminals".

The Metropolitan Police said it and British Transport Police made the arrests on suspicion of criminal damage.

Scotland Yard said it would "never tolerate people causing criminal damage to buildings under the guise of protest".

In a video posted on X, a number of demonstrators can be seen spraying the paint over the walls of the MoD in Whitehall before displaying a banner reading "Youth demand an end to genocide".

Youth Demand and Palestine Action said they were demanding that both the Conservative and Labour parties pledge to impose a ban on buying arms from, or selling arms to, Israel.

The groups have also called for an end to all future licensing for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK, including a revoking of oil and gas licences issued since 2021.

Youth Demand said: "Young people will not accept the future those in charge have in store for us.

"We will not die quietly whilst our leaders commit us to a future of suffering and mass death. Young people are coming together to fight back."

In a protest involving the group on Monday, Labour's headquarters in London were sprayed with red paint.