Palestine Action co-founder accuses ministers of making defamatory claims

Huda Ammori says No 10's allegations go against its own intelligence assessments, as pressure grows over mass arrests

The co-founder of Palestine Action has accused ministers of making false and defamatory allegations about the banned group, and of contradicting their own intelligence assessments in an attempt to justify recent mass arrests.

The government has come under pressure to justify the detention of 532 people arrested over the weekend under the Terrorism Act - half of whom were 60 or older - on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action.