The British government escalated its disagreement with the head of the London Police on Thursday regarding the police's handling of a pro-Palestinian march this past weekend, accusing police officers of taking a biased stance towards leftist causes. Plans for protests in London next Saturday, coinciding with Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I, have sparked a dispute between the government and the police, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating he will hold the police accountable for any issues that arise after they claimed that the timing of the protests with Armistice Day is not sufficient reason to prevent them.
London has witnessed some of the largest demonstrations in Europe since the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" attacked Israel on October 7, with tens of thousands of protesters gathering every weekend to demand an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Sunak described the planned demonstrations on Saturday as an inappropriate act, while Police Commissioner Mark Rowley stated that any ban would require intelligence information about a threat of serious disturbances, emphasizing that such a ban has not been imposed in a decade.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman labeled the marches as "hate marches" and wrote in The Times on Thursday that these demonstrations "represent an assertion of control by certain groups, particularly extremists," and a display of power. Almost 200 people have been arrested since the October 7 attack for hate crimes in the UK, including antisemitism, Islamophobia, and public order offenses, many of which are racially motivated and connected to the protests.
