Met Police chief Rowley facing calls to quit over handling of Gaza protest

THE head of the Metropolitan Police is facing calls to quit over the force’s handling of pro-palestinian protests.

Both the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and former home secretary Suella Braverman have called for Sir Mark Rowley to resign or be sacked, accusing him of having “emboldened” antisemites.

Ms Braverman used an op-ed in The Sunday Telegraph to demand Sir Mark’s resignation, saying people who were “flagrantly antisemitic” were being “waved on by the police”.

She said: “Either this is gross incompetence, or it’s a culture coming from the top, where thugs are free to intimidate and harass while the rest of us have to keep our mouths shut and stay out of the way.”

In a statement, the CAA’S chief executive, Gideon Falter, said: “Racists, extremists and terrorist sympathisers have watched the excuses and inertia of the Met under his command, and been emboldened by his inaction at precisely the moment when he should be signalling a renewed determination to crack down on this criminality.

“What the Met under Sir Mark has done to the Jewish community over the course of six months is utterly unforgivable and it is time for him to go. Enough is enough.”

Other figures including Deputy

Prime Minister Oliver Dowden were highly critical of the Met but stopped short of saying Sir Mark should go.

Mr Dowden told The Sunday Telegraph that the force had been “disrespecting” Jews while Lord Walney, the Government’s adviser on political violence, accused the Met of “institutional antisemitism”.