Police urge Patel to ban protests due to Covid

THE organisation that represents rank-and-file police officers in England and Wales has called on the Home Secretary to ban all protests while the threat of Covid-19 remains.

Police Federation chairman John Apter said Priti Patel must be “unequivocal” in stating that large gatherings are not allowed. It comes after a second weekend of violent clashes in the capital as farright protesters took over areas near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square in response to antiracism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.

Mr Apter said: “In normal times the principle of having the right to peaceful protests is an important one. However, we are not in normal times, we are tackling a deadly virus.”

But Downing Street said any ban was an “operational matter” for officers to apply to the Home Secretary for.

PM Boris Johnson’s spokesman said: “We urge people not to attend further protests because gatherings of over six people remain illegal. Ministers have no powers to initiate a ban on marches themselves – it’s an operational matter for police.”

Meanwhile, Labour claim Mr Johnson’s pledge to establish a commission on racial inequality is a “back of a fag packet” plan designed to “assuage the Black Lives Matter protest”.

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said there have been several reviews into racism in the UK and to have another makes it feel like “we want figures, data – but we don’t want action”.