Police urge to call off protests on armistice weekend (Image: Shutterstock)
Police have urged pro-Palestinian protesters to cancel their mass march on Armistice Day, warning that the risk of violence and disorder in the capital is “growing”.
Scotland Yard said it is “not appropriate to hold any protests” this weekend when families pay their respects to Britain’s war dead who sacrificed their lives.
But the pleas by the Met Police were rejected by organisers – and the demonstrations are set to go ahead unless commanders ask Home Secretary Suella Braverman to intervene and ban them.
Protest leaders have called for up to one million people to take to the streets on Saturday.
Mrs Braverman, who chaired a meeting with police yesterday, has said she will back any official requests to ban the November 11 protest. She insisted: “The hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism.”
The Met have said they would use “all powers and tactics” at their disposal to prevent disruption, including Section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986, which allows the banning of a procession when there is a risk of serious disorder.
After meeting protest organisers, police said the various groups had declined to postpone any demonstrations. If the protest goes ahead, police will throw a ring of steel around key London sites.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign organisers have pledged to avoid the Whitehall area where the Cenotaph is located.
But Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Ade Adelekan, said: “The risk of violence and disorder linked to breakaway groups is growing. This is of concern ahead of a significant and busy weekend in the capital.
“Our message to organisers is clear: Please, we ask you to urgently reconsider. It is not appropriate to hold any protests in London this weekend.”
READ MORE Braverman says ‘decent Brits have had enough’ of protest Remembrance threat
Home Secretary Suella Braverman called to ban protest (Image: PA)
The Met says protest violence has increased in recent weeks. And officers blame yobs “who have no interest” in protests for being behind the disorder.
Four police were attacked with fireworks during Saturday’s demo after thousands of demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square.
Protesters also climbed on the square’s fountains. There were six arrests.
The demonstrations follow Israel’s ferocious bombing of Gaza as it hunts down Hamas terrorists who killed more than 1,400 of its people on October 7 and took more than 240 hostages.
Palestinian authorities said yesterday the Gaza death toll had topped 10,000.
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Rick Prior, of the Metropolitan Police Federation, stopped short of saying Scotland Yard should call to ban the protest.
But he said: “It is going to be very difficult. I am concerned officers are going to get injured or the public who are not there demonstrating are going to get caught up in it.
“Whilst I understand the right to protest in a free democracy, there still has to be consideration to allow people to pay their respects in peace.
“This weekend is very solemn for everyone. Families up and down the country will be paying their respects. Situations where you have raw emotion are where you tend to have conflict.”
A “Million March for Palestine” poster by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign includes a call to action, saying: “Let’s make this the biggest march in history.”
There are fears of violent clashes after the Protect Our Monuments group declared they would be out this weekend to prevent protesters desecrating memorials. Members of the far-right are also believed to be planning to travel to the capital.
Commander Karen Findlay, of the Met, pledged: “We fully appreciate the national significance of Armistice Day.
“Thousands of officers will be deployed in an extensive security operation and we will use all powers and tactics at our disposal to ensure that anyone intent on disrupting it will not succeed.” Ms Braverman met police chiefs, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence officials yesterday, to discuss future protests and the potential risk of them escalating further.
The Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, which is usually attended by members of the Royal Family, will take place on Saturday, with a two-minute silence observed at 11am.
Remembrance Sunday events will take place at the Cenotaph in Westminster the next day.
Sunak says “Remembrance Day is a time for national reflection (Image: PA)
The planned protest route will go Hyde Park – about a mile from the Cenotaph – to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames. Downing Street said Prime Minister Rishi Mr Sunak did not believe all pro-Palestinian protests were hate marches, but said there has been “some evidence of hateful behaviour”.
Mr Sunak said yesterday: “Remembrance Day is a time for national reflection. It is a time when I know the whole country will come together to pay tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe. “I want to make sure police have our absolute and total backing to clamp down on any acts of criminality, but also to ensure public order.”
Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which became law last year, there is a legal duty to protect war memorials. Anyone desecrating them can be jailed for up to 10 years.
Tory MP Jonathan Gullis, who put forward the Desecration of War Memorials Bill with fellow MP James Sunderland, said every war memorial was “sacred”. He added: “The least we can do is ensure memorials are adequately protected, with the police enforcing the laws we passed to punish those who would deface or defile them.”
Mr Sunderland, a former Army colonel, said: The police have the powers to deal with any odious behaviour at the Cenotaph. But the Government must also ensure that any protest goes nowhere near it in the first place.”
