New Home Secretary James Cleverly has distanced himself from his predecessor Suella Braverman over pro-Palestinian marches.
He declined to call protests “hate marches” in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain saying:
“Not everybody involved in these marches are motivated by antisemitism,” adding that the Government supported lawful protest.
Mr Cleverly said that he had met with the senior leadership of the Metropolitan police as well as the Mayor of London, who he said is the politician with direct responsibility for the Metropolitan Police force.
“We support peaceful, lawful protest. Of course we do,” he said on Thursday.
“But the simple truth of the matter is we have seen numerous examples of deeply antisemitic comments.
“Now, not everybody involved in these marches are motivated by antisemitism, but the sad truth of the matter is some of the people on these marches are.
Suella Braverman drew criticism after calling protests ‘hate marches’— (PA Wire)
“That is a criminal offence, and we always expect the police to take action when they see criminality.”
It comes after Suella Braverman was sacked on Monday as politicians slammed her “divisive” rhetoric in relation to pro-Palestinian protests which have drawn crowds of hundreds of thousands.
Many commentators blamed her for instigating the actions of far-right protestors who descended on the Cenotaph in Westminster on Armistic Day to “defend the realm”.
Braverman who has previously said she is “proud to be a child of the British Empire” has garnered support with much of the hard right in the Tory party.
Mr Cleverly was replaced by David Cameron as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle on Monday— (Getty Images)
Many police officers were attacked as dozens were arrested for offences as wide-ranging as criminal damage, assault and hate crime.
Mr Cleverly was replaced in his role as foreign secretary by former Prime Minister David Cameron after Rishi Sunak carried out a cabinet reshuffle following one of the most chaotic periods for both Conservative and Labour MPs in recent times.
In his new role, he has echoed his predecessors Braverman and Priti Patel’s emphasis on “stopping the boats”.
After Prime Minister Sunak’s policy to deport migrants to Rwanda, was defeated in the Supreme Court, Mr Cleverly insisted that the plan would go ahead anyway, saying in a statement on Wednesday: “We have a plan to deliver the Rwanda deal and we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats.”
