Suella Braverman’s claims of police bias in the days leading up to Saturday’s pro-Palestinian march were a significant factor in “sustained” far-right attacks on members of the force, officers believe.
One police source with close knowledge of the weekend’s events said the intensity of attacks by far-right supporters on police officers in central London was “unprecedented”. Police believe some were in possession of and high on cocaine.
In the aftermath of the march, with at least two officers in hospital and the home secretary fighting for her political life, it became clear tensions were still simmering between government and police.
A government source claimed police were trying to “dictate” what could be debated publicly by claiming that tensions had increased after “intense debate about protest and policing”.
While police do not want a public row with the government, senior officers were clear about the factors they thought had driven far-right violence towards officers.
In a statement on Saturday night, the Met’s assistant commissioner, Matt Twist, said: “This operation took place in unique circumstances, against a backdrop of conflict in the Middle East, on Armistice Day, and following a week of intense debate about protest and policing. These all combined to increase community tensions.
“The extreme violence from the rightwing protesters towards the police today was extraordinary and deeply concerning.
“They arrived early, stating they were there to protect monuments, but some were already intoxicated, aggressive and clearly looking for confrontation. Abuse was directed at officers protecting the Cenotaph, including chants of: ‘You’re not English any more.’”
That police statement led to an angry reaction from those backing Braverman, with one government source telling the Guardian: “It is not for the police to dictate what should and should not be up for public debate.”
“These are issues that have touched people across the UK and across the globe and there are many people who are justifiably angry at the scenes playing out on the streets,” they said. “Questions about whether the law or guidance are sufficient to protect all communities are wholly legitimate and necessary.”
The leader of 140,000 rank-and-file police officers in England and Wales said his members had borne the brunt of the violence after days of controversy.
Asked whether his members had confidence in the home secretary, Steve Hartshorn, chair of the Police Federation, told the Guardian: “Confidence in the home secretary is for the electorate, MPs and the wider Tory party to decide based on what’s been said and done as a result of comments made.
“Sadly, it’s my members who have taken the brunt of the violence from those seeking to cause trouble, which is completely unacceptable. They will decide in time whether to continue to remain as police officers or choose an alternative career if the politics isn’t kept out of policing. “
Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester, said: “Calling the police biased and questioning why they were robust with the extreme right wing and football hooligans encouraged them and created the conditions where it stoked up their anger.
“Any responsible politician should be seeking to bring people together and calm people. She did the opposite. And police officers got injured. The Met did an incredible job and showed great professionalism.”
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which coordinated Saturday’s march, criticised Braverman. “Those including Suella Braverman who have pushed notions of hatemongers and terrorist sympathisers marching in London seeking to disrespect Armistice Day are complicit in what occurred.”
Jamal accepted that some placards were antisemitic, but hailed the protest as “overwhelmingly peaceful” and blamed “pro-Israel actors” for deliberately seeking out examples of antisemitism.
Jamal said: “The message being delivered by these pro-Israel actors is that these isolated incidents prove that the march was pro-Hamas or an unsafe space for Jews.”
Jamal said he had counted 10 examples on social media among 800,000 marchers. “Some of the placards shown and incidents captured are antisemitic,” he said. “The organisers, including PSC, would dissociate ourselves entirely from them. But we reject absolutely the attempt to suggest that they are indicative of our views or the vast majority of those marching.”
On Sunday the Met said Saturday’s protests had led to 145 arrests and that seven people had been charged with a variety of offences, including assault, possession of weapons, criminal damage, public order, inciting racial hatred and drug possession.
Police are still looking for several people linked to the pro-Palestinian march, including one apparently wearing a Hamas headband and another clutching antisemitic slogans and imagery.
Deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, said more arrests were expected.
British Transport Police (BTP) have issued a picture of a young woman in relation to an “antisemitic hate crime” at Victoria station on Saturday. Video footage published on X, formerly Twitter, appears to show the woman shouting, “Death to all the Jews.”
Separately, the BTP also appealed for members of the public to help them identify four men they would like to speak to in relation to a “racially aggravated altercation”.
Video filmed at Waterloo station on Saturday shows one man calling a supporter of the march a “terrorist” and another shouting: “We were fucking born in this country.”
