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Six civil liberties campaigners from the NO2ID group were arrested today before they had a chance to begin their protest outside a summit of EU home affairs ministers in Newcastle.
A spokesman for the group said that two cars of campaigners were driving towards the venue of the three-day EU justice and home affairs ministerial meeting when police stopped them.
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman confirmed that four men and two women were held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
However, the group claimed they were arrested on the grounds they may cause a breach of the peace. Those held were part of the NO2ID group, which was planning to picket the three-day EU justice and home affairs ministerial meeting at Gosforth Park.
The campaigners, who were going to wear orange boiler suits and bar codes on their foreheads, had created a 12 square foot ID card to highlight what they see as an increasing restriction on civil liberties.
A spokesman for NO2ID, who did not wish to be named, said: "The plan was for a few car loads of people to do a peaceful picket outside Gosforth Park with a 12 foot square ID card.
"The two cars were approaching the venue when they were stopped and searched under the spurious grounds that there might be a breach of the peace.
"Before they could even protest about our civil liberties being eroded they were arrested. A bit of irony there, I think."
He added: "It is shocking that we could not have a peaceful protest in a peaceful country but this is what these ministers want.
"They want to stop peaceful protest. We could not even have a protest about the erosion of our civil liberties without being arrested.
"This is just another example of Britain moving towards a surveillance society."
He said the six were likely to be detained for the next 36 hours and not released until after the summit had finished.
Among those arrested was Phil Capon, who said before his arrest: "Governments across Europe are using the War on Terror as an excuse to undermine some of our most basic human rights and are increasing the powers of the state to undermine the right to protest and of dissent.
"Some of our most ancient liberties are under threat from a range of measures being discussed at this summit from the introduction of ID cards, restrictions on jury trials, crackdowns on freedom of expression and detention without trial.
"We believe that the strength of our society to oppose terrorism is grounded in the liberty and freedom of our citizens but these measures, which undermine those rights, only grant a victory and encouragement to the very terrorists they are supposed to be deterring."
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that six people were arrested near the venue at around 8.30am this morning.
"Four men and two women have all been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and are currently in custody. "Inquiries are on-going."
About 70 EU ministers were attending the summit where host, the Home Secretary Charles Clarke, was confident of securing a deal with his European counterparts on controversial counter-terrorist measures.

Four No2ID campaigners were ejected from Gateshead Metro Centre yesterday, after their attempts to protest against the introduction of a national identity register and identity card were deemed "inappropriate" for local shoppers.

Home Office Minister Andy Burnham was due to appear at the centre as part of his whistlestop tour aimed at persuading the nation of the benefits of ID cards and biometric technologies.

No2ID argues that the Home Office is rigorously excluding opposing views from the tour. The campaign group complains that the details and locations of the tour are not being made public in advance, and that the public is only being given one side of the story.

Stephen Hodgson, ringleader of this unlikely group of rebels, said: "It was extraordinary. We had been there about an hour. The minister had yet to arrive. Then Home Office staff manning the stand had a word with Metro Centre security staff, and the security staff had a word with police. The police ejected us from the Metro Centre, saying that our leaflets were 'inappropriate'. It beats me how."

The group was handing out standard No2ID campaign leaflets, which you can have a look at here (pdf).

No2ID's press officer told us he thought it highly unlikely that the leaflets contained any particularly inappropriate information: "The most violent we've ever been on our leaflets is the red ink," he said.

The Home Office has denied asking the police to move anyone along, and says that it is "a matter for Northumbria Police and MetroCentre security".

Northumbria Police, for their part, explain that a local bylaw means leafleting is prohibited in the Metro Centre. A spokesman told us: "The security staff asked the protesters to leave. We were just in attendance to make sure there was no breach of the peace."

The Home Office confirmed that it too was handing out leaflets. One covering information about the new e-passports, and the other with details of the new photograph standards guidelines. "The purpose of the roadshow is to inform the public," a spokesman told us.