London police defy ban on badges linked to far right and white supremacy

Metropolitan police officers were banned from wearing the UK’s thin blue line symbol because it has been appropriated by rightwing groups. Photograph: Loop Images Ltd/Alamy

Metropolitan police officers are openly defying orders not to wear badges appropriated by the far right and linked to white supremacy.

In July, the force’s chief, Mark Rowley, banned officers from wearing the “thin blue line” badge saying that in the US an equivalent symbol had been used by “hard-right groups”.