More than 1,000 officers from forces around the country will be drafted in to help the Metropolitan Police this weekend amid intense political pressure to prevent disruption to remembrance events.
Police chiefs have backed Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s decision to resist banning a pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day despite comments from the prime minister and the home secretary.
Gavin Stephens, who is chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said demonstrations which have seen hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets across the country over the past five weeks in response to the Israel-Hamas warhad been “largely peaceful”.
He told reporters there had not been “serious violence or serious disorder”, other than some highly publicised incidents, although there was a “minority intent on disrupting the law-abiding masses”.
With protesters and counter-demonstrators expected to travel to London this weekend from across the country, more than 1,000 officers are being drafted in from other forces in every region of England and Wales.
She once again described those taking part as “hate marchers” and accused police of “playing favourites” with left-wing groups over right-wing and nationalist activists.
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Mr Stephens said it is not the job of police to hold the home secretary to account but stressed the importance “that the public debate doesn’t feature in our operational decision-making” because it would “fundamentally undermine” policing.
“In policing we need the space to make difficult operational decisions in an independent manner,” he said.
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“The decisions that we take are not easy ones, but we do so impartially, without fear or favour, and in line with both the law and our authorised professional practice.”
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Asked if police were biased, he said decisions were taken “without fear or favour”, adding: “We do not take into account whatever our personal view may be on a topic.”
Mr Stephens also said he considered it a civic responsibility to use language carefully and not stoke community tensions.
“I do what I can to give that reassurance to keep temperatures low when we are in times of such awful, tragic international conflict that is affecting so many families across the world and language is important,” he said.
“And our actions in diffusing tensions are important. And we take those very seriously in policing.”
Some 29 people were arrested over the protest last weekend, during which fireworks were thrown, while previous weeks, where up to 2,000 officers have been on duty, have seen troubling incidents of antisemitism and support for banned terrorist group Hamas, and a member of the crowd at a fringe Hizb ut-Tahrir protest chanting “jihad”.
Organisers say Saturday’s protest will be “well away” from the Cenotaph – going from Hyde Park, around a mile from the war memorial in Whitehall, to the US embassy – and won’t start until after the 11am silence.
Chief Constable Chris Haward, who is leading the national police response to the Israel-Hamas war, said even if the march was banned, protesters would still have the right to gather in one place.
“The threshold (for a ban) is extremely high. It is about serious violence, and not about the words that might be chanted,” he said.
“Even if you ban the march, you cannot ban the assembly. You will still expect to have 100,000 people, maybe more, turning up who will then be in a static position.”
He said counter-protests would be facilitated “without bias” but warned hate crime or law-breaking will not be tolerated.
Mr Haward also revealed a surge in hate crime following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October has been particularly big in London, with the Met currently accounting for more than 70% of offences nationally, compared to less than a quarter normally.
Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.
The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.
Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.
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“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.
“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”
Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.
She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.
“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”
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She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.
“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.
“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”
She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.
“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.
“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”
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The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.
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Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.