The Government has said it will question the Met Police for failing to act after protesters at a rally in London called for “jihad” to “liberate people at a concentration camp called Palestine”.
At the event, organised by Islamist extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, members bore a banner with the slogan "Muslim Armies! Rescue the people of Palestine".
In one video clip, a speaker is filmed asking the assembled crowd: "What is the solution to liberate people in the concentration camp called Palestine?"
In response, several men in the crowd are seen chanting "jihad, jihad, jihad".
Ministers are said to be “deeply concerned” by the Met Police’s handling of the incident after specialist counter-terrorism officers said they had not identified any offences in the clip.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said “a lot of people” will find the Met’s analysis “surprising”, adding: “That’s something that we intend to raise with them and to discuss this incident with them.”
Speaking on Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Jenrick added: “Chanting ‘Jihad’ on the streets of London is completely reprehensible and I never want to see scenes like that. It is inciting terrorist violence and it needs to be tackled with the full force of the law.
“Ultimately, it’s an operational matter for the police and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) whether to press charges.”
He added: “Arrests have been made… There have been arrests since the beginning of this situation… There have been arrests under terrorist legislation. And we want to do everything that we can to protect British Jews.
“But this is a broader question beyond just legality. It also is a question about values. And there should be a consensus in this country that chanting things like ‘Jihad’ is completely reprehensible and wrong and we don’t ever want to see that in our country.”
The Met said in a statement: “In addition to officers deployed with theprotest, we have counter-terrorism officers with specialist language skills andsubject expertise working alongside public order officers in our mainoperations room, assessing any video and photos that emerge.
“They have reviewed a video from the Hizb ut-Tahrir protest in which a man can be seen tochant ‘Jihad, jihad’.
“The word has a number of meanings but we know the public will most commonly associate itwith terrorism.
“Specialist officers have assessed the video and have not identified any offences arisingfrom the specific clip. We have also sought advice from specialist CrownProsecution Service lawyers, who have reached the same conclusion.
“However, recognising the way language like this will be interpreted by the public andthe divisive impact it will have, officers identified the man involved andspoke to him to discourage any repeat of similar chanting.”
