Policing of pro-Palestinian marchers has been perverse and dangerous, warns David Spencer
What we are seeing in London today is the very definition of ‘Differential Policing'.
The way Pro-Palestinian protests and marches in London are being policed is another blow for the Metropolitan Police’s reputation.
Equality before the law is a fundamental principle of the rule of law. Everyone is subject to the same laws and entitled to be treated the same by the institutions responsible for law and order – be that the courts, prosecutors or the police.
Over recent weeks we have seen the streets of London swell with thousands marching to demonstrate their solidarity for the Palestinian cause.
Although they have since been allowed to protest, the initial reaction from the police raises the question asked by many: who are the police protecting here? Those standing up to terrorists, or those who sympathise with them?”
This last weekend saw the Met reportedly advise a Christian group not to hold an event in Golders Green where they were planning to ‘pray for Israel and the Jewish people’.
It is difficult to comprehend why the police are unable (or perhaps even unwilling) to protect those seeking to highlight the plight of those held hostage by terrorists or those wishing to pray for the Jewish people, yet seem so content to allow unimpeded those calling for ‘jihad’.
Are the police choosing to yield the public square to the mob, purely because of the large numbers of people involved? If so, the forces of law and order have already lost control of our streets.
To understand the Met’s apparently perverse decisions we need to understand who the police are listening to.
The Met have said that they have invited representatives from the Jewish and Muslim communities to their operations room to provide ‘insight and advice’.
It is unclear who these groups are, but it is difficult to believe that they are providing wholly unbiased and impartial advice.
Don't miss...
UK now has own HATE SLOGAN 'From London to Gaza we will have an intifada' [COMMENT]
Israeli tank seen on streets as bitter urban warfare ignites close to Gaza City [WORLD]
Rishi Sunak holding emergency COBRA meeting as fears grow of Hamas terror in UK [POLITICS ]
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Reportedly the Met have been working with internal police groups during the protest.
There are very serious questions to be asked about the Met using such networks. The Independent Review of Prevent, the Government programme which aims to stop people from becoming or supporting terrorists, stated that one of them, the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP)and its affiliates, “have promoted several individuals and organisations with disturbing views or affiliations.”
As research by Policy Exchange has previously shown, NAMP is as much a campaigning organisation as anything else – having previously campaigned against the Government’s counter-terrorism policy and called on the Home Office and the police service to drop terms such as 'Islamist' and 'Islamism' from counter-terrorism policing – claiming such phrases are ‘Islamophobic’.
It is no bad thing for the police to have access to unbiased tactical and technical expertise.
Yet how can we possibly know NAMP is providing that, given their questionable associations and campaigning activities?
While there are some who appear to have been inadvisably present over recent weeks, there are others who appear to have been inexplicably absent.
As the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is the politician accountable for the Metropolitan Police. He has crafted a reputation as someone rarely willing to hold back from commenting on how the Met goes about policing the capital.
Yet, over the last fortnight we have seen and heard comparatively little from the Mayor, while the police effectively exclude pro-Israeli voices from central London and let the mob rule the streets.
Recent days have seen politicians, prosecutors and police officers playing an unseemly game of pass the parcel when it comes to who is responsible for the scenes playing out on the streets of London.
Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of the Met has said that it is not policing that has been lacking, but rather the politicians and the law. Whatever the failings of politicians and prosecutors, and there are many, that just isn’t good enough.
The law already provides the police with wide-ranging powers concerning public processions and assemblies, particularly if there is the risk of serious public disorder or serious disruption to the life of the community.
How much more disruption must Londoners tolerate?
For the third week in a row, central London is being handed over to protestors. Unless Rowley and the Met rapidly change tack, the Commissioner runs the risk of our capital city no longer being subject to the rule of law, but rather the rule of the crowds.
