Pro-Palestinian groups defy police calls to call off Armistice Day march

Pro-Palestinian groups have defied calls by the Metropolitan Police to postpone a demonstration on Armistice Day.

Concerns have been raised about the protest due to take place in central London on Saturday.

The Met said senior officers had asked various groups behind the event to “urgently reconsider” and described the plans as “not appropriate” during a meeting on Monday. 

But the coalition of groups, which includes Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, insisted they would press ahead with the demonstration calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Mer Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who leads public order policing in the English capital, said: “The risk of violence and disorder linked to breakaway groups is growing.

“This is of concern ahead of a significant and busy weekend in the capital.

“Our message to organisers is clear: please, we ask you to urgently reconsider. It is not appropriate to hold any protests in London this weekend.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman welcomed the Met’s statement.

“The hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism,” she said.

The organisers of the protest said they were “deeply concerned” by the Met statement.

They said the force could not provide “any evidence” for why the risk of breakaway groups engaging in criminal activity would be any greater.

The organisers added: “We recognise the political pressure being placed on the police by the Government and right-wing political groups.

“However, we emphasise that they had and have a responsibility to withstand that pressure and act to uphold democratic freedoms.

“We will be holding a protest on Saturday and we invite all people of conscience to join us in peacefully marching as planned.”

Lindsey German, of Stop the War, previously described the Met Police intervention as a “denial of our civil liberties”, and said organisers were “determined to go ahead”.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog told TalkTV the planned march was “atrocious”, adding: “I call upon all decent human beings to object to the march and ban it, because the symbol of that day is a symbol of victory.

“And it is a symbol of doing good, because when you fight evil, sometimes you have to fight. You have to fight evil in order to uproot evil.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said police have the Government’s “absolute and total backing” to tackle criminality and maintain order.

The Met said officers would use “all powers and tactics” at their disposal to prevent disruption, including Section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986, which allows the banning of a procession when there is a risk of serious disorder.

The Home Secretary chaired a meeting on Monday morning to discuss police plans for protests over the next few months, including the potential risk of further escalation.

Attendees included senior Met leaders and representatives from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence, according to the Home Office.

The Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, which is usually attended by members of the royal family, will take place on Saturday, with a two-minute silence at 11am.

Remembrance Sunday events will take place at the Cenotaph in Westminster the following day.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has pledged to avoid the Whitehall area where the Cenotaph is located.

The planned route goes from Hyde Park – about a mile from the Cenotaph – to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames.

The Met must prove the threshold for a Section 13 order has been met before seeking approval from the Home Secretary to sign off on a ban.

There is unlikely to be any resistance to a ban from Ms Braverman, who said last week that there is “an obvious risk of serious public disorder, violence and damage, as well as giving offence to millions of decent British people” if protests go ahead on Armistice Day.

Former Tory chairwoman Baroness Warsi – a long-standing critic of the Home Secretary – accused her of being “dangerous”.

She told Sky News: “I have been speaking to the protesters and I’ve been saying to them, when your Home Secretary starts to become dangerous and divisive and isn’t keeping communities together, then communities need to step up and be the responsible ones.

“And if that means that you have to think about postponing, then you’re going to have to be the adults in the room.”

In a statement, the protest organisers previously said they had “no intention of marching on or near Whitehall in order not to disrupt events at the Cenotaph”.

Four police officers were attacked with fireworks during a pro-Palestinian protest last Saturday after thousands of demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square.

Protesters climbed on the square’s fountains as the mostly peaceful group waved flags and banners. There were six arrests.