A 31-YEAR-OLD man has been charged in connection with an alleged plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange, police said today.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Sean Middleborough, from Liverpool, is accused of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. 

Five other people – three women and two men – were also arrested and have been bailed pending further enquiries, it added.

A police investigation was launched after a newspaper passed it information that members of the protest group Palestine Action planned to stop the LSE opening for trading on Monday morning.

The group hoped to launch a week of action against British institutions “complicit in Israeli apartheid”, according to the Daily Express newspaper.

“The London Stock Exchange raise billions of pounds for the apartheid state of Israel and actively boast about their support for Israeli businesses,” Palestine Action said on its X account. 

“The exchange also trades shares in weapons manufacturers who arm Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Members of the group intended to climb on top of two revolving doors at the front of the exchange building, where they would lock themselves together while firing fake bank notes, painted red to represent blood, from “money guns”.

They then aimed to lock their necks to the glass entrance using bike locks. 

Met Police detective superintendent Sian Thomas said the group was ready to carry out “a disruptive and damaging stunt which could have had serious implications had it been carried out successfully”. – AFP, January 15, 2024.