'Pro-Palestinian bias': UK government accuses police of adopting lenient approach towards left-wing causes

The British government intensified its row with London’s police chief on Thursday regarding their handling of a pro-Palestinian march scheduled for this weekend. They accused the police officers of adopting a more lenient approach towards left-wing causes. This dispute arises from plans for a demonstration in London on Armistice Day, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated that he will hold the police accountable for any disturbances, despite the police stating that there isn’t sufficient reason to ban the event. In recent weeks, London has witnessed large demonstrations demanding an end to Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza following an attack by the militant group Hamas on October 7. The police expect a significant demonstration on Saturday, November 11, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War One, while there are no plans for protests on November 12, when central London hosts formal Remembrance Sunday events. Sunak has called the march disrespectful but police commissioner, Mark Rowley, has said any ban would require intelligence of a threat of serious disorder, and that such bans had not been implemented for a decade. Interior Minister Suella Braverman has called the demonstrations “hate marches”. Writing in The Times on Thursday she said they were an “assertion of primacy by certain groups — particularly Islamists” and a show of strength. “Unfortunately, there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters,” she wrote. “During COVID, why was it that lockdown objectors were given no quarter by public order police yet Black Lives Matters demonstrators were enabled, allowed to break rules and even greeted with officers taking the knee?” Braverman, seen as a possible future leader of the governing Conservative Party, said while freedom of speech and assembly were long-held traditions in Britain, there was “a debate to be had” over whether some public displays were so offensive they should be banned. Neil Basu, a former senior officer in London’s Met Police, said the political criticism could increase the likelihood of counter-protesters turning up, increasing the risk of violence. “It’s somewhat ironic that all of this rhetoric about this march might be increasing the intelligence case, to have it banned,” he told LBC Radio. Nearly 200 people have been arrested since the Oct. 7 attack for hate crimes in Britain, including antisemitic and Islamophobic offences, and public order offences, many of which were racially aggravated and linked to protests. With inputs from Reuters.