The house secretary has hit out on the Metropolitan Police after the commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, resisted authorities stress to ban this week’s pro-Palestine march.
By Ben Bloch, Political reporter @realBenBloch
Suella Braverman has accused the police of “double standards” in the way in which they deal with protests – after Rishi Sunak conceded {that a} pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day will go forward.
The house secretary has sharply criticised the Metropolitan Police in an article for The Times newspaper – saying there may be “a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”.
It comes after Mr Sunak described Saturday’s deliberate march in London as “disrespectful”.
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The prime minister met the chief of the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday afternoon – and had vowed to carry Sir Mark Rowley “accountable” for his choice to greenlight the demonstration.
Sir Mark had resisted calls to try to block a march happening – and mentioned that, after intelligence, the authorized threshold for a ban had not been met.
The Prime Minister says he’ll maintain the Met Police chief ‘accountable’ over a deliberate protest on Armistice Day
Ms Braverman as soon as once more described pro-Palestinian protesters as “hate marchers” – writing that it’s “a phrase I do not resile from”.
That is regardless of quite a few authorities ministers saying they’d not use such language.
She wrote that the marches are “problematic, not just because of violence around the fringes but because of the highly offensive content of chants, posters and stickers”.
She added: “This is not a time for naiveté. We have seen with our own eyes that terrorists have been valorised, Israel has been demonised as Nazis and Jews have been threatened with further massacres.”
The Home Secretary Suella Braverman has criticised pro-Palestinian protests in London
Ms Braverman went on to say that the “heart of the matter” is that she doesn’t “believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza” however “an assertion of primacy by certain groups – particularly Islamists – of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland”.
“Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas,” she added.
Claiming {that a} double customary exists inside the Met, she requested: “Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law?”
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Calling for protests to be policed “even-handedly”, the house secretary additionally questioned why protests for Black Lives Matter had been allowed to go forward in the course of the COVID pandemic, whereas “lockdown objectors were given no quarter by public order police”.
In phrases seeming to pile stress onto Sir Mark Rowley, she concluded: “This weekend the public will expect to see an assertive and proactive approach to any displays of hate, breaches of conditions and general disorder.”
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In response to Ms Braverman’s article, Yvette Cooper, the shadow house secretary, described her as “out of control”
She wrote on X, previously referred to as Twitter: “Her article tonight is a extremely irresponsible, harmful try and undermine respect for police at a delicate time, to tear up operational independence and to inflame neighborhood tensions.
“No different house secretary of any celebration would ever do that.”
And London Mayor Sadiq Khan posted: “The Home Sec’s article in The Times is inaccurate, inflammatory & irresponsible.
“At a time when we should be seeking to unite communities – she is dividing them. The Home Sec should support the police to keep everyone safe at this delicate time, not make their job harder.”
And the Liberal Democrats have accused her of “running a Conservative Party leadership campaign, not the Home Office”.
A senior Tory authorities supply, commenting on Ms Braverman’s comparability of “hate marches” by pro-Palestinian protesters to sectarian rallies held in Northern Ireland in the course of the Troubles, instructed Sky’s Beth Rigby: “This is wholly offensive and ignorant of the place individuals in Northern Ireland stand on the problems of Israel and Gaza.
“It can be good to know what she is aware of about what NI individuals take into consideration the present Israel-Palestine scenario earlier than she casts aspersions.
“It’s clear that the Home Secretary is only looking after her misguided aspirations for leader than responsible leadership as a Home Sec.”
Sunak labels pro-Palestinian march ‘disrespectful’
In an announcement following a gathering with Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, the prime minister conceded that the protest this weekend will go forward.
He mentioned in an announcement: “Saturday’s deliberate protest is not only disrespectful however offends our heartfelt gratitude to the reminiscence of those that gave a lot in order that we could dwell in freedom and peace as we speak.
“But half of that freedom is the proper to peacefully protest. And the check of that freedom is whether or not our dedication to it could survive the discomfort and frustration of those that search to make use of it, even when we disagree with them. We will meet that check and stay true to our ideas.”
He added: “It’s welcome that the police have confirmed that the march will probably be away from the Cenotaph and they’ll be sure that the timings don’t battle with any remembrance occasions.
“There remains the risk of those who seek to divide society using this weekend as a platform to do so. That is what I discussed with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner in our meeting.”
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Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer had accused Mr Sunak of “cowardice” for “picking a fight” with the police.
He tweeted: “Remembrance occasions have to be revered. Full cease.
“But the individual the PM wants to carry accountable is his house secretary. Picking a battle with the police as a substitute of working with them is cowardice.”
Downing Street denied searching for to place stress on the Met, which is operationally impartial, and insisted the assembly was about “searching for assurances” that their approach is “strong”.
The Met has mentioned its officers had been already making ready for remembrance occasions over the weekend and “we are going to do all the things in our energy to make sure that individuals who need to mark the event can accomplish that safely and with out disruption.”
Organisers say protest will probably be ‘properly away’ from Cenotaph
Tens of hundreds have demonstrated in London in current weeks over Palestinian deaths within the Israel-Hamas conflict – with 29 arrested throughout a fourth week of protests final Saturday, throughout which fireworks had been thrown.
Organisers of this Saturday’s protest say will probably be “well away” from the Cenotaph – going from Hyde Park, round a mile from the conflict memorial in Whitehall, to the US embassy – and will not begin till after the 11am silence.
Several cupboard ministers have spoken out concerning the scenario, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay telling Sky News that 11 November was the “wrong day” for protest motion in London.
He mentioned: “There is a authorized threshold and the commissioner is of the view that that authorized threshold has not been met.
“Obviously, the Home Office and colleagues will talk about that over the course of the day.”