Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to sack Suella Braverman as senior Tories blasted her "dangerous rhetoric" for stoking tensions that led to far-right protesters clashing with police in London.
The prime minister has so far maintained confidence in his home secretary during a week in which she branded rough sleeping in tents a “lifestyle choice” and attacked the Metropolitan Police as “biased” in how they deal with left-leaning protesters.
But, after branding the Remembrance Day a “hate march” and calling for it to be banned, she has been blamed for whipping up far-right groups who clashed with police at the Cenotaph and threw missiles at officers in Soho.
A senior Tory MP called for Ms Braverman to apologise and quit, telling The Independent it was “entirely predictable” and far-right activists clashing with police was “entirely her fault”.
“The march was never going past the Cenotaph in the first place and her dangerous rhetoric has invited a group of so-called ‘counter-protesters’ who are no more than far-right thugs who have no place on our streets,” the MP said.
And backbench Tory MP Elliot Colburn said there has been “a lot of anger on all sides”, but appeared to criticise Ms Braverman, telling The Independent: “Some people are taking advantage by stirring it up.”
He added: “We need to find a way forward as a country to call for calm and take the heat out of this.”
Lord Heseltine said far-right protesters attacking the police in London proved that Suella Braverman’s recent comments were “particularly inappropriate”.
The Tory grandee told The Independent: “The people she seemed to be trying to put to blame, the pro-Palestinian protesters, have behaved well.
“And the far-right and EDL have proved they were the real trouble-makers and the police dealt with them appropriately.”
As the pro-Palestine march went ahead peacefully while police clashed with far-right activists:
- The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had arrested more than 90 far-right activists as 2,000 counter-protesters led by Tommy Robinson descended on London
- Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through London to demand a ceasefire in Gaza
- The prime minister came under increasing pressure to sack Ms Braverman
- Far-right protesters barged past police near Whitehall and the Cenotaph before two minutes’ silence passed undisturbed to mark Armistice Day
The shadow home secretary said: “It is the responsibility of all of us to bring people together over this weekend, not divide and inflame.”
And mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said clashes between the police and far-right thugs are “a direct result of Ms Braverman’s words”.
Labour shadow minister Jess Phillips accused Mr Sunak of “standing by” while the police were attacked by “thugs who followed the whistle of his home secretary”, while Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf called on Ms Braverman to resign over the skirmishes.
“She attacked the police, she said they were biased, she made us and our police less safe,” Ms Phillips said.
Mr Yousaf said Ms Braverman’s position as home secretary was “untenable” after the clashes broke out.
“The far-right has been emboldened by the Home Secretary. She has spent her week fanning the flames of division. They are now attacking the Police on Armistice Day,” Mr Yousaf said.
And Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who has family in Gaza, laid blame for any trouble caused by counter-protesters at the prime minister’s door.
She tweeted: “As the police in central London work to contain the far-right, and everyone starts to blame Suella Braverman, just remember who chose to not only give her the job but also chose not to sack her.
“Rishi Sunak is as, if not more, responsible for what happens today”.
Police clash with farright protesters in Whitehall— (PA)
Anti-racist campaign group Hope Not Hate said far right agitators had been “fuelled by the extreme rhetoric of the home secretary”.
Chief executive Nick Lowles said: “These protests do not exist in a vacuum. We’ve seen the far right growing in numbers and confidence, aided by the radical right fringes of this government.”
And Alastair Campbell accused the Conservatives of “deliberately putting a match to cultural tinder”.
The former Downing Street comms chief said: “The police would have been able to control the pro-Palestine March which was going nowhere near the Cenotaph.
“Braverman poured on petrol with her nonsense about police bias and now what should be a weekend of remembrance is becoming a ghastly source of division and possible violence.”
Left-wing Labour MP piled in, saying Ms Braverman is “without a doubt one of the nastiest, most divisive politicians in Westminster”.
Up to 2,000 far right counter protesters were caught in skirmishes with police before the two minutes’ silence passed undisturbed at the Cenotaph.
Footage showed crowds barging past police and climbing on bollards on Saturday morning as counter protesters were penned in on Whitehall.
Counter rallies were held near the Cenotaph ahead of the two minutes’ silence— (PA)
Crowds of men were chanting and seen climbing on bollards with pockets of disorder breaking out. However, silence fell at 11am as two-minutes’ silence was observed.
English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson was among the crowds gathered on Whitehall after he issued a rallying cry to his supporters to turn out to “defend” the Cenotaph.
Three West Ham fans ask a police officer: “How far is Trafalgar Square? Is it kicking off there? That’s where I wanna be.”
The police officer was then heard giving instructions on how to get there, saying it was five minutes away.
It comes as hundreds of thousands of protesters descended on London to call for an immediate ceasefire in the deadly Israel-Gaza conflict that erupted last month.
Ms Braverman has come under fire for her criticism of police in an incendiary article in The Times on Wednesday in which she accused the police of bias over the protest.
Britain Israel Palestinians march through London on 11 November— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Downing Street has made clear that it had not approved the extraordinary article and senior Tories have criticised it, including Jeremy Hunt saying “I would not have used those words”.
In the article, Ms Braverman compared “pro-Palestinian mobs” to marches in Northern Ireland and claimed the protesters are “largely ignored” by officers “even when clearly breaking the law”.
She has already called the weekly demonstrations, attended by thousands, “hate marches”.
Mr Sunak has so far resisted calls to sack Ms Braverman as home secretary, while MPs on the right of the party are threatening to revolt if action is taken against her.
