Activists from controversial pro-Palestine group Youth Demand were arrested for allegedly spraying graffiti next to the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

Two women from the group unveiled a Palestinian flag and placed it at the foot of the memorial to Britain’s war dead.

They are suspected of then having sprayed “180,000 dead” next to the statue and posed with posters saying, “stop arming Israel” and “never again for everyone”.

The group posted on Twitter: “Never again means never again. Everything that the cenotaph stands for is contrary to the Labour government allowing companies to profit from genocide.”

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that two activists had been arrested. In a statement, it said: “These two women were quickly arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and are in custody.

“The damage was caused to the road and not the Cenotaph. Everyone has the right to peaceful protest but where that crosses the line into criminality we will take action.”

Labour MP Neil Coyle told the JC, “There is a gulf between legitimate protest and criminal damage of a memorial. The deliberate choice of the Cenotaph should be punished as heavily as possible.”

The 180,000 figure sprayed by activists is believed to be a reference to a letter published by medical journal The Lancet. In a non-peer reviewed article, three academics argues that if the death toll in Gaza is 37 396, then it is “not implausible” to estimate that up to 186 000 deaths could be attributed to the war at some point in the future.

The JC has reported that activist group Youth Demand have threatened to disrupt the King’s Speech this Wednesday. The group has accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of being an “accomplice to genocide” in Gaza and that “Labour is driving genocide, and as young people we find that totally unacceptable.”