Oliver Dowden has slammed the police after it emerged they had torn down posters of missing Israeli hostages in London.
The Deputy Prime Minister was confronted with the story this morning, saying the move had been “totally unacceptable”.
Amid fury at the “disgusting” decision, the Met insisted they were merely taking steps to “avoid community tension”.
Footage was posted on social media two days ago of PSCOs tearing down posters, in both London and then in Manchester.
The Met claims they received calls from residents in North London that posters had been placed on a business’s shutters late on Saturday evening.
According to reports, the posters had been placed on a chemists in Edgware, after some employees posted anti-Israeli statements on social media.
Adam Ma’anit, whose cousin is being held hostage hostage by Hamas, described the footage as “deeply distressing”.
He told The Independent: “My cousin is on one of the posters but obviously every time I see people tearing down these posters I feel a wave of despair take hold.
“There is no hate on the posters; they are just being used to highlight the plight of the hostages as the news cycle has long moved past the atrocities of October 7.”
Greater Manchester’s Chief Constable also made a grovelling apology after officers in Prestwich were filmed ripping down posters.
He admitted the PCSOs’ actions were against official guidance.
This morning Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said if it’s the case as reported by papers, “it’s totally unacceptable”.
He told LBC: “These families are going through so much hurt, over 200 innocent people are being held in Gaza”.
“It’s right that they should draw the world’s attention to their appalling suffering and those posters should not be being pulled down full stop.”
Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson also weighed in, saying: “This is an outrageous overreach by Greater Manchester Police. How dare they do this?”
“After standing by as protesters called for a jihad, the police are failing at their job to keep hatred and violence off Britain’s streets.
“Officers should stick to cracking down on anyone who breaks the law.”
The latest criticism of UK policing around Israel-Gaza tensions comes after fury that the police are refusing to intervene with law breakers at the now-weekly pro-Palestine marches in London.
The Met defended protestors chanting for “jihad” and claimed there were no laws preventing the use of flares.
Former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith said: “Having refused to arrest people, waving Hamas flags and chanting anti-Semitic slogans, the police now prefer to punish Jewish people even more by taking away their commemoration for their loved ones.”
