Rishi Sunak slams ‘disrespectful’ pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day but says it WILL go ahead after Met boss meeting
The PM is concerned that protestors will disrespect those remembered during the Armistice services
RISHI Sunak has slammed a planned pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day as “disrespectful”, but confirmed it will go ahead.
It comes after the PM today met with Met chief Sir Mark Rowley and vowed to hold him “accountable” if violence breaks out at Saturday’s demonstration.
Today’s meeting saw the PM and Met Chief discuss growing concerns ahead of plans for 700,000 activists to march through Central London on Saturday.
The pair discussed how officers intend to prevent clashes breaking out over the memorial weekend.
In a statement, Sunak said: “Freedom is the right to peacefully protest.
“And the test of that freedom is whether our commitment to it can survive the discomfort and frustration of those who seek to use it, even if we disagree with them.
“We will meet that test and remain true to our principles.”
He added: “It’s welcome that the police have confirmed that the march will be away from the Cenotaph and they will ensure that the timings do not conflict with any remembrance events.
“There remains the risk of those who seek to divide society using this weekend as a platform to do so. That is what I discussed with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner in our meeting.
“The commissioner has committed to keep the Met Police’s posture under constant review based on the latest intelligence about the nature of the protests.”
Ministers have implored organisers of the Gaza march to delay the protest to a less sensitive date.
But bosses at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign have refused and Sir Mark said yesterday “the threshold to call off the rally hadn’t been reached”.
The Home Office can only ban a march if the Met advises there is a serious risk of violence.
READ MORE POLITICS
So far chiefs have greenlit it to go ahead – but Sir Mark did call on organisers to “urgently reconsider”.
Protest organiser and director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ben Jamal said: “We knew we would be marching each Saturday if a ceasefire wasn’t called.”
He told Sky News: “Some weeks ago we said to the Met Police that on November 11 we would not want to be going anywhere near Whitehall or the Cenotaph so it is politicking.
“It is designed to defame and delegitimize those who are marching.”
The PM said: “This is a decision that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has made.
“He has said that he can ensure that we safeguard remembrance for the country this weekend as well as keep the public safe.
“Now, my job is to hold him accountable for that.
“We’ve asked the police for information on how they will ensure that this happens. I’ll be meeting the Metropolitan Police Commissioner later today to discuss this.
“More broadly, my view is that these marches are disrespectful and that’s what I’ll be discussing with the Police Commissioner later today.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Sir Mark said: “The laws created by Parliament are clear.
“There is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend.”
Sir Mark added that moving to ban a march is “incredibly rare” and must be reserved for cases where there’s a “real threat” of violent disorder.
Sir Mark insisted Palestine rally organisers have shown “complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation’s remembrance events”.
He added: “Should this change, we’ve been clear we will use powers and conditions available to us to protect locations and events of national importance at all costs.”
