MORE than 50 MPs and peers signed a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper today calling for an independent inquiry into the policing of a pro-Palestine protest on January 18.

The demonstration saw police arrest 77 people, a crackdown condemned by campaigners as an attack on freedom of assembly.

Organisers, including the protest’s chief steward Chris Nineham from Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal, were among those charged with public order offences.