Rishi Sunak has warned that the UK is descending into “mob rule” and ordered police to use the powers they have or risk losing public confidence.
The Prime Minister’s stark warning comes amid a surge in threatening protests around Parliament, MPs’ offices and council chambers.
Last week pro-Palestine activists beamed a “genocidal” phrase on to Big Ben.
Protesters projected words from the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which is widely seen as antisemitic.
The Met Police were later accused of “normalising aggressive and offensive acts” over the slur.
Earlier this month pro-palestinian protesters targetted the home of Tory MP Tobias Ellwood.
Mr Sunak told police at a roundtable in Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon: “There is a growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule. And we’ve got to collectively, all of us, change that urgently.
“But we also need to demonstrate more broadly to the public that you will use the powers you already have, the laws that you have.
“I am going to do whatever it requires to protect our democracy and our values that we all hold dear.
“That is what the public expect. It is fundamental to our democratic system. And also it is vital for maintaining public confidence in the police.”
Mr Sunak told police the new “democratic policing protocol” will help prevent Britain moving away from democratic rule.
He told the policing roundtable: “This makes clear the consistent and robust approach that your forces will take from now on to protect our democratic processes from intimidation, disruption, from subversion.
“We simply cannot allow this pattern of increasingly violent and intimidatory behaviour which is, as far as anyone can see, intended to shout down free debate and stop elected representatives doing their job.
“That is simply undemocratic.
“So it’s right that the Protocol commits to additional patrols, provides clarity that protests at elected representatives’ homes should be treated as intimidatory.
“And we’ve provided additional funding for protective security.”
Ministers could also increase the amount of notice protest organisers have to give the police after demonstrations cost forces across the country £25 million in just two months.
Home Secretary James Cleverly is considering the proposal, one of the key findings by a parliamentary committee.
The Home Affairs Committee (HAC) report on policing protests found demonstrations, and the “disruptive tactics” of some participants, are causing “unsustainable pressure” on policing resources.
According to the report, policing the protests between October 7 and December 17 last year cost forces across the UK more than £25 million.
It cost the Metropolitan Police an estimated £18.9 million and other police forces a collective £6.5 million, from the same date to December 10.
More than 4,000 rest days for officers have been cancelled to ensure protests could be policed safely, the report added.
Protest groups have criticised the report, with a spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) saying it fails to address the need to “ensure the safety of this country’s Jewish community”.
The cross-party committee called for police forces to be given greater support to deal with protests, citing that representatives from the Metropolitan Police said policing demonstrations over the Middle East conflict has led to “the greatest period of sustained pressure on the Met since the Olympics in 2012”.
It said: “Should these protests continue indefinitely, it stands to reason that forces will be less able to carry out the everyday neighbourhood and response policing that is so vital to the public.
“If the protests continue to take place as frequently at this scale, the Home Office should consider amending requirements for protest organisers, such as increasing the notice period for protest organisers to inform the police from the current six days, to allow the police to prepare better.”
The HAC labelled it “worrying” that the Government’s plan to tackle hate crime has not been updated since 2020, referencing the rise in reported hate crimes and reported terrorist offences since the Hamas attacks of October 7.
HAC chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said: “It is deeply dispiriting to see the fight against hate crime get stuck in Home Office limbo.”
A CAA spokesman said: “Disappointingly, this report fails to address the increasingly urgent need to restore the confidence of the British public and ensure the safety of this country’s Jewish community.”
