Home Secretary orders protest police to take ‘robust’ action
PRITI Patel has warned police chiefs there must be no more “tea and chit chat” with Extinction Rebellion protesters and ordered them to take “robust action”.
A furious Home Secretary chaired a meeting of chief police officers after public anger over the way Insulate Britain – an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion – blocked drivers at rush hour on the M25 last week.
Sources said Ms Patel gave them a dressing down after they failed to order their officers to clear protests.
Instead there were images of police staring at protesters and even chatting with them and having a cup of tea. Sources close to the Home Secretary said: “Priti told the police in no uncertain terms that these protests are completely unacceptable and expressed her frustration that the lives of the law-abiding majority were being disrupted by actions of an extreme minority.” The source added: “She also told them, ‘no tea and chit chat’.”
The meeting took place in a Friday call that also included Sir Stephen House, the Met Police deputy commissioner, and Owen Weatherill, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
The police gave an update on operational procedure, as well as on some of the tactics protesters were using, such as gluing themselves to the ground and each other, which made moving them difficult. The senior officers also revealed that more than 200 arrests had been made.
But Ms Patel made it clear she did not think the police had done enough. According to a source, she “was very clear she would back the police in taking robust action to deter any future disruption, and will always give the police the powers they need to do their jobs effectively”.
She is also said to have pressed chief constables on whether they needed additional powers and tools to deal with these types of protest.
Ms Patel also discussed the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests.
Opposition parties have claimed the new measures will harm the freedoms of individuals to protest.
But Ms Patel has publicly warned that Extinction Rebellion protests have shown the current laws are out of date.
Earlier this year she told the Sunday Express the protesters were “a blight” on the country.