Top UK screenwriter Laverty arrested at pro-Palestine protest

Scriptwriter Paul Laverty, better known for his collaborations with director Ken Loach, including on the “I, Daniel Blake”, was arrested on Monday during a pro-Palestine demonstration for supporting a prohibited organization, the Scottish police announced.

“Following a demonstration outside the St Leonards police station (Edinburgh) on Monday, August 25, 2025, a 68 -year -old man was arrested under the 2000 law for terrorism for supporting a prohibited organization,” said police in Scotland. He later specified that the man was Laverty.

According to the Scottish newspaper The National, Laverty wore a t-shirt with the slogan: “Genocide in Palestine, it’s time to act”.

Laverty is accused of supporting the action in Palestine, which the British authorities interrupted as a terrorist group in July following acts of vandalism in a base of the Royal Air Force.

More than 700 people have been arrested, mainly during demonstrations, to support the group since it was prohibited under the law of 2000 on terrorism.

Laverty is best known for her work with Loach, in particular by writing the scenarios for “I, Daniel Blake” (2016) and “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” (2006), which both won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival.

JWP / TW