Campaign group receives £27,000 for destroyed banner
Greater London Authority officials seized the protest banner, which was later destroyed by Veolia.
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The campaign group Led By Donkeys has received £27,000 in compensation following the seizure and destruction of a large banner displayed in Parliament Square. The banner, which read “Yes It’s A Genocide”, was confiscated by Greater London Authority (GLA) officials on 4 December 2024.
Banner's Fate and Compensation
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After an 19-month campaign by the group to have the banner returned, the GLA informed Led By Donkeys that it had been given to environmental services company Veolia, which subsequently destroyed it. Following legal correspondence from Led By Donkeys demanding that either the GLA or Veolia cover the banner's cost, Veolia agreed to pay £27,216. This figure matches the stated cost of the banner by the campaign group.
A spokesperson for the GLA stated that the banner was seized by GLA heritage wardens after an unauthorised protest. The spokesperson added that the banner was unfortunately damaged during storage and subsequently disposed of by their contractors. Veolia confirmed they were asked by their client to collect and store the banner. A Veolia spokesperson explained that after approximately 12 weeks, the banner's condition deteriorated, presenting a health and safety hazard, leading to its disposal. Veolia has reimbursed Led By Donkeys for the full cost of the banner due to the unintentional damage.
“The Parliament Square banner was in collaboration with one of the world’s leading genocide scholars, but still the authorities threw process out the window and simply seized and destroyed our property. Pursuing compensation was never about the money, it was about defending space to protest Israel’s war crimes.”
Ben Stewart, co-founder of Led By Donkeys
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Ben Stewart, a co-founder of Led By Donkeys, commented that the authorities had disregarded proper procedure by seizing and destroying their property. He stated that the pursuit of compensation was not primarily about financial gain but about safeguarding the right to protest actions in Israel's war in Gaza. Stewart also suggested that protests related to Palestine are treated differently in Britain compared to other forms of activism, with direct action being labelled as terrorism and placard messages deemed illegal.
Context of the Banner
The banner was filmed from the air and featured in a social media video with a voiceover from Professor Amos Goldberg, an Israeli scholar of the Holocaust. The video was released following Israel's military response in Gaza, which began after the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas. In September 2025, a UN independent international commission of inquiry concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. The commission also stated in the month prior to this report that Israel continued to commit genocide by deliberately targeting children in Gaza. Israel has consistently denied these allegations.
Research from legal and rights experts, including UN investigators and organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, has also concluded that Israel is committing what is considered the most serious international crime. In February, the European Legal Support Center and research group Forensic Architecture launched an initiative to record instances of Palestinian solidarity being suppressed in Britain, reporting over 900 such occurrences in the preceding six years.
Questions this report answers
+How much compensation did Led By Donkeys receive?
Led By Donkeys received £27,000 in compensation for the destroyed banner. This amount was paid by Veolia after the company admitted the banner had been damaged beyond repair during storage.
+Why was the banner seized and destroyed?
The banner was seized by Greater London Authority officials because it was part of an unauthorised protest in Parliament Square. It was later destroyed by Veolia after being stored for around 12 weeks, as its condition posed a health and safety risk.
+What did the campaign group say about the compensation?
Led By Donkeys stated that pursuing compensation was not about money but about defending the right to protest. They argued that authorities had disregarded proper procedure by seizing and destroying their property without justification.
Barnet Press News Desk
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