Nigel Farage slammed the Met Police and the Government for failing to take action to ban the pro-Palestine protest planned for Armistice Day.
The GB News presenter fumed at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Scotland Yard for not moving to block the march in this Saturday.
There are fears the rally in central London will disrupt Remembrance Day events commemorating the nation’s war dead.
Speaking on his GB News show, the former Ukip and Brexit Party leader said: “The vast majority of the British public do not think this march should go ahead of Armistice today.
“And yet between the police and the Government nothing is getting done.”
Mr Farage then read a Met Police statement issued just before his show in which they urge organisers of the demo to “urgently reconsider”.
The GB News presenter went on: “And what do we get from the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister?
“Well of course Suella’s very good at denouncing these marches as ‘hate marches’.
“But given we have Public Order Act it is not beyond wit of man for the police and the Government to actually show some courage and some leadership and to do what most of us think is the right and appropriate thing.
“And yet I’m afraid we’re led by gutless people who are not prepared to do this and who allow events to overtake us. Maybe that will change between now and the end of the week.
“But right now it’s as if the police are saying to the Government you decide and the Government are saying to the police you decide.
“The law, as it fairly clearly states, needs the Met to recommend the march should be stopped for the Home Secretary to act.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has organised the march, has pledged to avoid the Whitehall area where the Cenotaph is located.
The planned route will take them from Hyde Park – about a mile from the Cenotaph – to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames.
The Met said officers 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.
The force must prove the threshold for a Section 13 order has been met before seeking approval from the Home Secretary to sign off on a ban.
There is unlikely to be any resistance to a ban from Ms Braverman, who has previously labelled the pro-Palestine demonstrations “hate marches”.
In a statement, the protest organisers said: “We have made clear that we have no intention of marching on or near Whitehall, in order not to disrupt events at the Cenotaph.
“We are alarmed by members of the Government, including the Prime Minster, issuing statements suggesting that the march is a direct threat to the Cenotaph and designed to disrupt the Remembrance Day commemorations.”
