Policing pro-palestine demonstrations until Christmas is unsustainable, say Met officers
POLICING mass pro-palestinian protests every weekend until Christmas is unsustainable and drags officers away from neighbourhood duties, the Metropolitan Police Federation has warned.
The federation, which represents the rank and file, said that there was “no magic box of public order officers” the force could roll out to police the protests.
On Saturday, Armistice Day, upwards of 300,000 demonstrators headed to the streets of London to protest against the conflict in Gaza.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, condemned far-right “thugs” and “Hamas sympathisers” after a day of violence resulted in more than 100 arrests.
In what was the biggest pro-palestinian march to date, thousands of people made their way from Marble Arch to the US embassy in Nine Elms, south London. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has organised the protests, did not respond when asked how long it planned to continue demonstrating.
Rick Prior, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said that the combined effect of large pro-palestinian protests at weekends and Just Stop Oil protests during the week would strain resources.
He said that while the force had the numbers to safely police the protests, ongoing disruption would pull officers away from other duties.
He said: “We have got the resources but to do it week in week out is not sustainable. It’ll be the same officers who are getting their leave cancelled every weekend.
“They are being taken away from their communities, neighbourhood policing, whatever that it is that they do on a day-to-day normal
job outside of public order policing. We have no magic box of police officers that we open for public order, they are your normal day-to-day, frontline staff.”
Mr Prior also warned that officers were being moved from specialist roles to help with the protests, including some working in Professional Standards, the department that handles misconduct cases.
He added: “So officers from the professional standards department are coming out on weekends.
“But in doing that it means that they are abstracted from their day job during the week.
“It effectively means they are working one less day a week on misconduct cases, which obviously will end up being an issue.” The warning came after British Transport Police announced that it had arrested three men after football fans became involved in a “racist” attack at Waterloo station on Armistice Day.
Social media footage showed some men behaving aggressively and squaring up to passengers.
One branded those filming him as “terrorist c----”.
His comments came as British retailers warned that continued protests that led to significant road closures in the capital would have a significant impact in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: “Demonstrations combined with the usual increase of Christmas shoppers will put extra strain on the central London infrastructure, and it may deter people from going into London on the days of the protests.
“This would be bad news for those retail businesses in the centre of London.”
He said, however, that the protests could also see more people outside the capital shopping locally which he said “would be welcome from the view of independent retailers”.
Just Stop Oil has added to the disruption in the capital with their latest campaign of slow marches.
Yesterday, Scotland Yard detained more than 100 of the group’s activists in the capital with the environmental campaigners claiming they had “overwhelmed” the Met.
More than 100 protesters were detained in Hendon Way, north London, prompting the force to issue a
‘Police are being taken away from whatever it is that they do on a day-to-day basis’
direct response to Just Stop Oil’s claim.a spokesman said: “All your activists who were slow marching in the road today have been arrested.
“Your activists showed no inclination to leave the road, the only way they are is in the back of a police van.
“More than 110 activists have been arrested. Londoners continue to face the brunt and cost of this.”
Last week, Suella Braverman, the former Home Secretary, clashed with Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, after she accused the force of bias in its handling of protests.
In an article for Mrs Braverman claimed Right-wing protesters were “rightly met with a stern response”, while “pro-palestinian mobs” were “largely ignored”.