The Metropolitan police appeared to be on the brink of banning Saturday’s planned pro-Palestine march through London after claiming that a protest on Remembrance Day would be inappropriate and risked violence.
After a meeting between organisers of the protests and the Met, a statement was issued on Monday in the name of the deputy assistant commissioner, Ade Adelekan, claiming that “the risk of violence and disorder linked to breakaway groups is growing”.
“This is of concern ahead of a significant and busy weekend in the capital,” Adelekan said. “Our message to organisers is clear: please, we ask you to urgently reconsider. It is not appropriate to hold any protests in London this weekend.”
It was claimed that the organisers had rejected an appeal to postpone the march.
On Monday night Suella Braverman welcomed the Met’s statement. “The hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Saturday’s protest is scheduled to start at 12.45pm on Saturday 11 November – Remembrance Day – at Marble Arch and end at the US embassy in south-west London, about two miles from the Cenotaph, where formal remembrance events will be held the next day.
The prime minister’s spokesperson earlier on Monday described the planned event as “provocative” and “disrespectful”.
The marchers have been calling for a ceasefire in the war that broke out last month after Hamas killed 1,400 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages. Thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed in the Israeli military operation since, according to Gaza’s health authority.
The Met police could apply to the home secretary for a ban under section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986 on the grounds that there is a risk of serious disorder if they find that their criteria have been met.
Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a key organiser of the protests that have brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets of London in recent weeks, said the police appeared to be under growing political pressure.
He said: “I would say now, there are absolutely no legitimate grounds for [a ban]. Some time ago, we indicated that on the 11th [of November], we would not be going anywhere near [the Cenotaph] … We knew that would be inappropriate … We’ve not had that information [of a ban] from the police. But what I’m aware of is the police are under immense pressure.”
Speaking earlier on Monday, Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, suggested he would be concerned by any attempt to ban the march. “My instinct must be that you should always err in favour of freedom of expression,” he said, adding that he hoped the protest would be closely controlled.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said on Monday that Rishi Sunak did not see all the protests held in recent weeks as “hate marches”, but pointed to language from some protesters that was “frankly terrifying” for Jewish communities.
“We saw some evidence of hateful behaviour at the marches, including arrests for inciting racial hatred, but obviously it remains the case rightly that people are able to, peacefully, within the law, express their views,” the spokesperson said.
“To plan these sorts of protests in and around Armistice Day is provocative, it’s disrespectful. Should memorials be desecrated or should we see some of the instances of racial hatred for which there were arrests at the weekend be expressed on these days? I think that would be an affront to the British public.”
Jamal said his organisation and others involved in arranging the marches would take legal advice if a ban was implemented. A further meeting between the organisers of the protests and the Met is expected on Tuesday.
Previous marches have gone past Parliament Square in central London, but the route this Saturday has been diverted.
Jamal said they wanted “a route well away from [Whitehall], but [with] a genuine political purpose, which is why we landed on marching to the US embassy for obvious reasons, because who is the primary agent in not pressing Israel for a ceasefire? Well, it is the US government.
“Now our government is equally culpable, but we know our government follows the US government.”
Akiko Hart, the interim director of Liberty, said: “In a functioning democracy, people must be able to stand up to power and make their voices heard. Shutting down protests would be a shocking breach of our right to freedom of expression, and would only serve to create even greater division.”
