Boris Johnson said it “felt odd” to “bash” Metropolitan police officers who had interrupted the Sarah Everard vigil as all he had “seen is footage of some argy bargy”.
The prime minister’s WhatsApp messages from March 2021 were shown during the Covid inquiry as Priti Patel gave evidence.
The socially distanced vigil on Clapham Common, organised by the group Reclaim These Streets, was heavily attended and was briefly visited by the Princess of Wales after the outpouring of anger over Everard’s murder by the serving Met officer Wayne Couzens.
Patel told the inquiry on Thursday that the police handling of the event was “totally inappropriate”, and admitted there was inconsistency in her public messaging regarding protests during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The former home secretary also spoke of being dismayed at the Met’s handling of a vigil.
David Frost, who was then minister of state at the Cabinet Office, said at the time that the police had been in an impossible position because of the “impossibility of enforcing current rules”.
Lord Frost told Johnson: “We certainly should not throw them under the bus.”
The then deputy director of communications, Jack Doyle, added to the exchange: “Agree. She [Patel] tweeted in time for the ten o’clock news and I think we got the tone right.”
Johnson replied: “Feels odd to weigh in as PM and bash the cops when all I have seen is footage of some argy bargy without knowing what happened. Think Starmer looks a bit opportunistic and anti-police.
“But no doubt the female MPs feeling strongly.”
Patel told the inquiry she believed police had generally struck the right balance overall between protests freedom of expression and enforcing Covid regulations, despite their approach appearing “uncomfortable”.
Referring to Black Lives Matter protests, she spoke about one demonstration which “turned particularly violent”.
