Metropolitan Police prepare for a 'difficult' weekend ahead of pro-Palestine marches on Armistice Day. The police confirm they've 'used all of the powers that are available' to manage protests and ensure safety.
Met Police is preparing for the biggest ever Remembrance security operationThe Met Police has doubled the number of officers on the streets and set up an exclusion zone around the Cenotaph - as the force braces itself for pro-Palestine activists to descend on London for a 'Million March' on Armistice Day.
Far-Right groups who have vowed to protect the Cenotaph have sent a chilling message to protesters, warning on vile WhatsApp groups with more than 1,000 members: 'We'll be waiting.' Pro-Palestinian protesters hold smoke flares as they cling to a traffic light outside Downing Street at a rally last month. The Cenotaph can be seen in the backgroundHNH, who reported the messages to the police, also found posts calling Muslims 'vermin'. Others wrote vile threats of violence and warned: 'It's war. For our children and country.'
Met Police deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is in charge of the 'large and robust policing plan', told reporters at a briefing on the eve of Armistice Day: 'There will be times this weekend where you see pockets of confrontation...' In a last-gasp plea for a 'moment of unity', Mr Sunak warned commemorations are 'sacred' and such rallies can take place only because of those who fought 'for the freedom we cherish'.
Asked why the force has doubled the number of officers on the ground compared to the first weekend of protests, DAC Laurence Taylor said: 'This is a really difficult weekend for policing. The unprecedented security around Britain's most hallowed war memorial was put in place yesterday and will remain until the end of remembrance commemorations on Sunday
Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, joins poppy sellers on behalf of the Royal British Legion as the nation rallies around volunteers Demonstrators will be banned from gathering outside the Israeli Embassy, while a dispersal order in place across a vast swathe of central London will allow police to arrest violent protesters breaking off from the main march.
In a statement released on Friday, the Met rallied around volunteers, saying: 'We have been clear no intimidation of those who so generously give up their time for this treasured national cause will be tolerated. Officers know the risk felt by sellers and should be sought out by anyone concerned throughout the weekend.'
Protective barriers around the 'Remembrance Sunday footprint' in Whitehall have been extended far wider than normal. Lindsey German, the group's convenor, said: 'Our local groups in towns and cities across the UK, along with coach companies, are telling us that every one of their coaches have been booked to bring people to London. This is comparable only to two million strong protest against the Iraq War in 2003.'
While march organisers have vowed not to go near the monument, there are fears splinter groups could clash with football hooligans who have vowed to 'defend' it. Sir Mark said organisers of Saturday's march had shown 'complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation's remembrance events'.
When quizzed on whether comments from politicians had raised the risk of disorder, he added: 'This weekend is going to be tense. Narratives play into that. We won't comment on individual narratives.'Police officers detain a protestor during a 'March For Palestine', in London on November 4 One group, named 'Football Lads Against Extremism', claims veterans have reached out and asked for their support 'due to the threat from the far-Left and pro-Palestine supporters to disrupt the Remembrance Day parade'.
Earlier in the week Rishi Sunak took a more measured tone insisting that he would hold Sir Mark 'accountable' for what happened at the protest. No 10 said they were working 'very closely' ahead of Saturday's heavily-policed march, but chose not to repeat her widely-criticised language in a piece for The Times.
Ms Braverman yesterday gave police her 'full backing' after her widely-criticised allegations of police bias were disowned by Downing Street 'It is entirely reasonable that the Home Secretary might raise concerns with senior police leaders in private, it is unacceptable to publicly attempt to tamper with the operational independence of policing,' he said.
'They have the right to expect the Home Secretary to be supporting them. Instead, she seems to be undermining them and actually making things worse. And that's just not the job of the Home Secretary. Stalls were missing at Kings Cross, Euston, Victoria, London Bridge and other railway hubs this week despite it being days before Armistice Day.
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Inside the Met's huge Armistice Day operation: Force doubles officers and sets up exclusion zone...Metropolitan Police prepare for a 'difficult' weekend ahead of pro-Palestine marches on Armistice Day. The police confirm they've 'used all of the powers that are available' to manage protests and ensure safety.
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Inside the Met's huge Armistice Day operation: Force doubles officers and sets up exclusion zone...Metropolitan Police prepare for a 'difficult' weekend ahead of pro-Palestine marches on Armistice Day. The police confirm they've 'used all of the powers that are available' to manage protests and ensure safety.
Read more »
Inside the Met's huge Armistice Day operation: Force doubles officers and sets up exclusion zone...Metropolitan Police prepare for a 'difficult' weekend ahead of pro-Palestine marches on Armistice Day. The police confirm they've 'used all of the powers that are available' to manage protests and ensure safety.
Read more »
Man who organised Armistice Day pro-Palestine march was working for Keir Starmer at the timeBen Soffa, the leader of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), was working for Sir Keir until mysteriously 'leaving his job this week.'
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Man who organised Armistice Day pro-Palestine march was working for Keir Starmer at the timeBen Soffa, the leader of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), was working for Sir Keir until mysteriously 'leaving his job this week.'
Read more »
Man who organised Armistice Day pro-Palestine march was working for Keir Starmer at the timeBen Soffa, the leader of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), was working for Sir Keir until mysteriously 'leaving his job this week.'
Read more »