One by one, the police plucked supporters of Palestine Action, a banned terrorist organisation, from the crowd outside the Houses of Parliament on August 9th. At 75 years old, Sir Jonathon Porritt, an environmentalist, was fairly typical. About one in five of those arrested was in their 70s. A frail 81-year-old was gingerly shepherded away by three policewomen (“She’s got a stick!” shouted one protester). She was not the only octogenarian. Fifteen 80-somethings were carted away by the Metropolitan Police, compared with only six teenagers. By day’s end 532 people had been arrested, half of whom were over 60 years old.