THE Home Secretary has said any pro-Palestine protesters who vandalise the Cenotaph should be “put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground”.
Suella Braverman also said she “won’t hesitate to act” if it is found that police need stronger powers to deal with what she called “utterly odious” behaviour at demonstrations.
The senior Conservative, who revealed she has never personally been part of a demonstration, told Sky News that some elements of the protests had turned into “hate marches”.
It comes as thousands of people descended upon central London on Saturday to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Fighting in the Middle East reignited after Hamas, a militant Palestinian group that rules the Gaza Strip, carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing 1400 people and taking about 240 hostages.
Braverman's comments were echoed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s deputy Oliver Dowden. He claimed there had been “hateful conduct” at pro-Palestinian marches and those attending need to ask whether they are “lending support” to such behaviour,
Dowden told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme he thought there was “hateful conduct in those marches”.
In regard to plans for a protest on Armistice Day on Saturday, the senior Conservative said he had “worries about… the level of violence and instability we may see with those marches”.
His comments come after Sunak said there is a “clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated” amid reports that tens of thousands of demonstrators are planning to take to the streets to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s attacks on Gaza on Saturday November 11.
There are fears the march could disrupt the two-minute silence commemorating the war dead and the daytime and evening Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, with the latter performance usually attended by royals.
Dowden (above) added: “You have had those chants of things like jihad — they are an affront not just to the Jewish community; they should be an affront to all of British society.
“And I think all of us should be calling out that kind of thing, and I think people who are on those marches need to ask themselves whether they are lending support to that kind of thing.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is due to meet with the Met on Monday to discuss the operation and the potential route for next weekend’s demonstrations.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman told Sky News that Armistice Day should be treated with the “solemnity with which it deserves” as she raised concerns about some elements of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations turning into “hate marches”.
“If anyone were to vandalise the Cenotaph, they must be put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground,” she told the broadcaster during a visit to a Greek island on Saturday.
She also tweeted: “I agree with the Prime Minister. It is entirely unacceptable to desecrate Armistice Day with a hate march through London.
“If it goes ahead there is an obvious risk of serious public disorder, violence and damage as well as giving offence to millions of decent British people.
“I have full confidence in the Metropolitan Police to ensure public safety and take all factors into account as they have done in similar situations in the past.”
Elsewhere, Cabinet ministers have reportedly warned health bodies, charities and universities about a need to crack down on hate speech arising out of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Sunday Telegraph said, as part of the move, that Health Secretary Steve Barclay had written to the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council warning that “hate speech and support for extremism or terrorism are not compatible” with being a UK doctor or nurse.
The Department for Health and Social Care said it would not be commenting.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat has written to the Mayor of London, Westminster Council and the Metropolitan Police, “asking them to look very carefully at the powers that they have and to consider what options they have available”.
“Personally, I don’t think this is an appropriate moment for a protest,” Tugendhat told the BBC.
The Met, which will be responsible for on-the-day policing of the demonstration, could ask the Home Secretary for temporary powers to ban protests from happening in certain areas of London, but only if it believes there is a risk of “serious public disorder”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whose role gives him influence over policing priorities in the capital, said Tugendhat should stop “posturing”.
He told the PA news agency: “If this security minister knew his brief, he would know the only person in the country that can ban marches is the Home Secretary – his colleague in cabinet.”
Khan said it is “incredibly important” that demonstrators understand the importance of Remembrance events and the Met Police was speaking to protest organisers to “make sure they stay away from the Cenotaph”.
