The row over the Met’s policing of a pro-Palestinian rally in central London intensified on Monday as Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley was due to meet the Home Secretary.
Suella Braverman was asking Sir Mark to explain his force’s response after protesters who chanted “jihad” during the rally on Saturday were not arrested. She was set to tell him there can be “no place for incitement or hatred or violence” on Britain’s streets and urge him to “crack down on anyone breaking the law”.
But at Monday’s meeting, Sir Mark was set to robustly defend the decision of his officers, arguing that the protesters could not have been prosecuted under existing legislation. He will deny police were acting in an “ad-hoc way without following legislation”.
Ken Marsh, chair of the Met Police Federation representing rank-and-file officers, said: “Once again we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. It’s all very well for armchair critics to suggest how we extract one or two people from a crowd of 100,000 but it will cause harm to my colleagues and be criticised publicly. What they were shouting was not a criminal offence. Those having a go at us also have the power of citizen’s arrest, so be my guest.”
Police observing the 100,000 crowd from a CCTV control centre in Lambeth were joined by senior CPS lawyers to decide if offences had been committed.
Some protesters called for “Muslim armies” to launch a jihad to “liberate Palestine”. According to one report, up to 15 officers were nearby.
The Met has pointed out that jihad has “a number of meanings.”
Sir Mark will also emphasise the operational independence of the police. The meeting between him and Mrs Braverman was already in the diary to discuss the ongoing protests and combating anti-Semitism.
But a source close to the Home Secretary said she would use it to question Sir Mark for his views on his force’s response to Saturday’s incident. Transport Secretary Mark Harper said footage from the weekend was “disturbing”. He told Times Radio: “The Home Secretary will make it clear that the Government thinks the full force of the law should be used.”
A video posted on social media shows the main speaker ask: “What is the solution to liberate people from the concentration camp called Palestine?” A man standing to the side can then be heard chanting “jihad”. The Met said the man involved had been spoken to him.
Jewish safety organisation the Community Security Trust criticised the Met, saying “they gave the impression of legitimising hateful behaviour”. Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “If anyone has broken the law, strong action will be taken.”
