Sir Mark Rowley resisted pressure heaped on the force by politicians to try to block the gathering in London on Saturday.
Sir Mark Rowley told broadcasters 'there will be a protest this weekend', despite a deluge of complaints from politicians over the clash with Armistice DayMetropolitan PoliceSir Mark Rowley resisted pressure heaped on the force by politicians, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to try to block the gathering in London on Saturday.
“The law provides no mechanism to ban a static gathering of people. It contains legislation which allows us to impose conditions to reduce disruption and the risk of violence, and in the most extreme cases when no other tactics can work, for marches or moving protests to be banned.”He said use of the power to block moving protests is “incredibly rare” and must be reserved for cases where there is intelligence to suggest a “real threat” of serious disorder.
The Met had urged the march organisers to “urgently reconsider” the event on Saturday because of a growing risk of violence, but the pro-Palestinian coalition behind it have refused to call it off. “The prime minister himself does not think it’s right for these sorts of protests to be scheduled on Armistice Day,” the spokesman said.The coalition of groups, which includes the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, insisted they would press ahead with the demonstration, calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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